Sweet Dreams (aren't made of this)
by Milligramme
Summary: Set 5-6 years after the events of the Phantom of the Trattoria. Life goes on for Takumi and Souma until the redhead suddenly disappears one day. "Takumi spent the last five years and eight months trying to prove his boyfriend that he would love him no matter what, but still. He leaves him on his own for two weeks and what happened? Gone. Again. Why did Souma have to be so stupid?"
1. Welcome to my Nightmare

Hello everyone! It's me again, with a new story! Like the summary says, it's set after the events of The Phantom. I'd love to say "but it's fine if you haven't read it" except I can't because both are so tightly linked that you'll probably be completely lost. Also, if you have read the Phantom I hope you remember it well because I have a tendency to use tiny details. But don't be afraid, I'm sure it will be fine!

Enjoy the ride!

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Welcome To My Nightmare**

Megumi was going back to Japan. After all those years he spent with her in Paris, it seemed weird for Souma to see her leave. Of course, he was happy for her. She deserved to be a chef and the master in her own kitchen, if not her own restaurant. And Inui had really given her a great opportunity when she offered her to be the chef in her new restaurant in Japan. Especially given how much his friend missed her family these days…

It felt like yesterday when the redhead first met her in the Trattoria Aldini and started teaching her recipes to challenge Takumi through her. And yet, it was something like six years ago already. Time sure was flying…

He smiled as he saw Alice talking to her excitedly, while Ryou watched her with his usual, indifferent look. Their restaurant was finally getting the success it deserved, and it had become more and more popular through the years. How they managed to finally find a proper balance in their respective styles, Souma didn't know. But Takumi and he went there regularly and he knew for a fact that it worked extremely well.

"Looking at those two sure makes me nostalgic of when you were still working with me…" Takumi remarked.

Souma turned to him with a smile. He couldn't agree more. At least he got to see him more often back then… Sure, they saw each other at home ever since they moved in together, but the redhead still found himself missing his partner's presence in the kitchen with him, from time to time.

"You know it wouldn't have worked," he still opposed. "It was always your place, and your family's place. We wouldn't have been equals there."

"And you love challenging me way too much… So yes, it wouldn't have worked in the long run," the blonde agreed.

" _I_ love challenging you? I think you do it almost as often as I do!"

"You started it!"

"I'm pretty sure you did."

That argument was almost as old as their relationship itself. Neither of them could remember who challenged the other first. At some point, it stopped even being a habit. It was more of a ritual between them now. Even better than morning kisses in a way, because no matter how silly it was, it was theirs _,_ and theirs alone _._

"By the way, how is your new aide?" the redhead suddenly asked.

"She's doing fine. She still has a few things to learn, but Marco and I agree that she has potential."

"See? You're worried every time someone leaves, but you always manage to find good replacements."

"Sure, but that's still troublesome. Why can't I find someone who stays?"

"Because you're too good at finding talented cooks?"

"Maybe…" Takumi replied thoughtfully. "But still, I don't like worrying about the kitchen staff leaving all the time. I know it's better than worrying about them making a mistake whenever I'm not here to check on them, but that's still annoying. I mean, even Marco! He's so perfect I can't picture him staying forever, and then how will I replace him?"

"The same way you replaced me with him when I left?"

"Right. It makes me even prouder of him, when I think about it. I thought I'd always complain about him not being as good as you are, but he's an awesome sous-chef and I'm never worried whenever I have to leave the kitchen to him."

"I wish I could say the same about Mitsuru…"

"Hey, at least you have Takako. And Misturu is good at communication, so he's still a great asset."

"If only he was as focused on cooking as he is on taking pictures of the dishes, he'd be a wonderful chef…"

"But he admires you a lot, so at least you won't have to worry about him leaving," Takumi pointed out. "Just give him some time to adjust, he's still young and he hasn't been here for long."

They were deep in their conversation when Megumi approached them. As they saw her, they immediately dropped the subject to include her. There were many people she had to talk to before the end of her farewell party, and they wanted to enjoy her presence as much as they could.

"By the way, I talked to Gin recently," the redhead announced. "He said that he'd be happy to see you once you're in Kyoto. Also, he told me to remind you that you can talk to him anytime if you have troubles with something."

"Thank you, Souma. I'll keep that in mind."

"So he's back to his old job?" Takumi inquired.

"Not exactly, but he's found something similar. He says it's even better since it gives him more freedom than his previous job."

"What about your father?" Megumi inquired. "Is he still traveling around?"

"Not at the moment. He said he was tired of it and went back to his old restaurant, so you might see him when you arrive. I don't know how long it will last though, you know how he is…"

"I don't know many chefs who can leave their restaurants like that for months at end, and still come back with as many customers as when they left…" Takumi marveled.

"I know. I wish I could do the same," Souma sighed.

"Because you'd leave me behind for months?" the blonde asked with an indignant look.

"You could come with me…"

"I can't leave the Trattoria like that, customers or not."

"I could leave for shorter periods."

"Right…" he half-agreed, still looking pretty skeptical about it.

"Hey, why don't we go to Japan together when Megumi is fully settled?" Souma suddenly offered.

"That's a wonderful idea," Takumi replied with a lot more enthusiasm.

"I'd love to see you there," Megumi agreed.

Still, Souma couldn't believe she'd be leaving in less than a week…

"I'll miss you," he sighed.

"I'll miss you too… All of you," she replied with a sad look.

"But Yuuki and Ryoko sure will be happy to see you again," Takumi reminded to cheer her up.

"Sure! They told me they have planned lots of things for when I arrive. I'm quite curious about it, since they wouldn't give me details," she explained with a smile.

 _She's grown up so fast…_ the redhead mused, unable to tell if he was joking or not.

They left with promises to talk often, but Souma knew he was terrible at keeping in touch. Hopefully, Takumi would remind him to do it. He was way better at it, being much closer to his family than him. And before she left, maybe he could organize something just for the two of them, if she wasn't too busy. She was his best friend, after all…

.

As he had planned, Souma had a lot of troubles replying to Megumi's emails. He absolutely had to do it though, the last one had been sitting in his inbox for weeks already. But… he also had to test a new recipe. Life was made of tough decisions, and since Takumi was in Tuscany for the week with his brother, the redhead obviously chose the recipe. His boyfriend was probably going to scold him for that later, especially since he had just reminded it to him this morning, but that would be _later._ Now, it was cooking time. He had the restaurant all for himself, and he was going to make the best of this quality him-time.

He gathered his ingredients, took care of the prep work, and turned on the stove.

According to the newspapers, the explosion could be seen in the whole neighborhood. The cause of the accident couldn't be determined.

.

 _The surroundings of the crime scene were crowded when Takumi arrived. Fortunately, the agents recognized him from afar and managed to open a way for him. Hercule Poirot and Sherlock Holmes stood in the blood stained kitchen, and they were obviously at their wits end. Good thing he'd just solved the Mystery of the Tofu Diamond and was free for this new case._

" _What do we have here?" the blonde asked coldly, indifferent to the flesh and blood covering the walls and counters of the kitchen._

" _It's obviously a criminal explosion," Sherlock replied._

" _We don't have any proof of that, Sherlock. Use your grey cells," Hercule countered. "All we know is that the explosion occurred between 12:65 and 78:99 AM. More or less a duck sandwich. Apparently, the poor man covering the walls is the only victim. There was no one else around when it happened, according to the witnesses."_

" _I see," Takumi replied as he took a bit of flesh from the counter to closely examine it. "Except that … this isn't human flesh!"_

 _Everyone in the room gasped loudly at the revelation. He continued:_

" _That particular color can only belong to minced beef. It's prime quality. Quite a waste, if you ask me…"_

 _Everything was so clear to him. And he loved the way the detectives were looking at him in awe._

" _This pink-greyish thing here," he said, pointing at the brain parts, "is obviously lamb brains. Again, top quality. It could have been so tasty with just a bit of butter and herbs…"_

 _He continued his inspection, and finished with the most obvious part._

" _And here, sirs, what you thought was human flesh and blood is nothing more than a Bolognese mixed with a bit of red wine. My colleague Isami could probably tell you where the wine comes from exactly, but he's working on another case at the moment. We can always take samples for later. My personal opinion is that it could go quite well in a_ bœuf bourguignon _, however."_

 _He turned back to the two detectives with a stern frown._

" _So as you can see, your victim is nothing more than a bunch of ingredients scattered everywhere in the room to look like human remains. Which can only mean one thing: the person who was in the kitchen when the explosion occurred wanted to fake their death. What we need to know is why, and where to find them."_

 _He turned back to the mess, wondering if it would be possible to cook something with the different ingredients. Somehow, he knew that the key to this mystery lied in his ability to find a proper recipe using all of them. That was what being a detective meant, and he was the best in the world._

 _However, something was bothering him here. He interrupted his culinary musings and asked:_

" _What's the name of the 'victim' again?"_

" _According to our source, his name is…"_

" _Yukihira Souma."_

 _._

Takumi woke up with a weird recipe of brains Bolognese in mind. What was his dream about again? He couldn't remember, but it must have been strange, if he woke up with such a thought. However, he was close to finding a proper way to make it, he was sure of it! If only his dream had stopped just a bit later…

He took a look at the window, and guessed from the light coming in that it was a good time to get up. He opened the shutters and took some time to adjust to the incoming light. He then leaned on the window, enjoying the amazing view he had of the Tuscan countryside. He took a deep breath, savoring the warm smells of the sunny morning, and smiled. If only Souma were here to see it with him…

The blonde missed him already, and he had called him just the day before. But now his phone was turned off and Isami was keeping it because, according to his _nonna_ , he was spending way too much time on it and should focus on nature and spending time with his family while he was here. He could agree on that, although he felt that he wasn't using his phone _that much_. His weekly calls to Italy lasted much longer, usually…

Anyway, Isami and he would fly back to Paris in just a few days, so he should really make the most out of what was left of his stay here. He got ready for the day and went down to the kitchen. Breakfast was ready, and only his brother was missing at the table. The blonde smiled at the scene of his parents and grandparents talking casually over coffee and cakes. That was another thing he would miss back in Paris. Especially the way his mother always managed to greet him as if seeing him was the best thing that happened to her all day.

Sweet Italy… He wondered if Souma would agree to live here with him when they got older… The Mediterranean sunshine would make a great change for him, after the years he spent in the undergrounds of Paris. That would be nice…

.

After just three days with his phone turned off, Takumi clearly didn't expect to have hundreds of missed calls and texts. As soon as he turned it on, in the train back from the airport, it started ringing and vibrating like it was going to explode any second. He exchanged a surprised look with Isami who turned on his own phone, only to realize that it did exactly the same. He only had half as many missed calls, but that still made a lot.

To say that it worried Takumi would be an understatement. And as he tried to understand what happened and who called him exactly, his mind rushed to a simple conclusion: it was about Souma. His boyfriend was actually the only one who didn't try to call him or contact him in any way, and that only made things more alarming.

The hundred something texts he had only confirmed this impression. Mostly, he could put them in three categories: "Are you okay?", "Call me back ASAP" and, more importantly, "Have you heard about Souma?"

Obviously, he had not.

" _There was an accident in the kitchen and he's dead,"_ was one of the first things that crossed his mind.

He turned to his brother, who was looking at him with great concern. Apparently, his phone was saying approximately the same thing, but with more "Is _Takumi_ okay?" and "Can you tell _Takumi_ to call back ASAP?"

" _He's in the hospital right now, in critical state,"_ the blonde thought again.

" _He got abducted,"_ was another possibility.

" _He got involved in a crime and now he's on the run." "There was an accident and he needed blood, and only my blood could have saved him oh wait we're not the same blood type never mind." "He's sick he had a terminal cancer all along why didn't I notice earlier, unless he got sick because of one of his experiments I told him not to use that smelly old cheese with lemon curd maybe that was poisonous Souma you're so stupid!"_

All kinds of horrible scenarios were twirling in his mind, making the whole world around him spin and here he was, stuck with his phone in his hand, unable to remember what he was even supposed to do with it. What did Souma do this time? Maybe… Maybe…

The blonde snapped back to reality when he felt Isami's hand on his shoulder. He turned to him with a distressed look. His brother seemed more concerned than ever.

" _Nii-chan,_ stay with me," he said softly. "Why don't you call your voice mail? There might be more information there."

He nodded silently. There was a lump in his throat that prevented him from speaking, and he knew that if he tried to, he would only manage to let out pathetic sobs.

He was shaking while dialing the number of his voice mail, and he almost dropped his phone in the train when he received a call from Alice. Since she was one of the people who called him the most, she might know what it was all about.

"Takumi, _finally!_ Where have you been? Everyone's worried sick about you!"

"I was in Italy," he managed to reply, unable to suppress the shaking in his voice. "What's happening?"

Alice remained silent for a few seconds.

"You haven't heard?" she asked.

"Heard about what? I've been away from my phone for just three days and now I have hundreds of missed calls and I'm worried sick. What happened to Souma?!"

"Oh… I thought you knew already…"

He heard a sigh.

"I don't know if I'm the one who should tell you this…" Alice continued.

"I don't care about that. Just tell me!"

"There was an explosion in Souma's restaurant three days ago."

As he heard the words, Takumi felt more worried than ever. However, it wasn't like his whole world shattered or something similar. Actually, he was almost … relieved. At least he had something concrete to worry about now, and his mind became slightly clearer once his brain stopped elaborating all kinds of possible (and impossible) scenarios.

"No one's hurt," she continued. "But … we don't know where Souma is right now. I don't have the details, but apparently the police didn't find a body. He just … vanished."

Was it better? Was it worse? Takumi didn't know.

"Takumi, are you still with me?" Alice asked, worried about his silence.

It took him a few seconds to remember how to breathe, but he eventually managed to reply:

"Yes. So they don't have a clue about … what could have happened?"

"Not yet. They're still investigating. There are lots of possibilities, you know… And the fact that he disappeared makes it even more mysterious."

She paused for a second, and added:

"Also, I think they've been trying to reach you. I guess that half of the missed calls are from them, since you're the most likely to help them."

"I don't know anything…"

"You still know him better than the inspectors do… I guess you'll have to contact them soon."

"Right…"

They paused, and Takumi drowned again in fear and sorrow until Alice said:

"By the way, if there is anything I can do, just tell me, okay?"

"Sure," he replied mechanically.

"Do you want me to tell the others? I think they're all worried about you, and maybe you don't feel like taking care of that right now so…"

"Yes, you can do that. Thanks."

He was starting to feel empty now. He was beyond feelings. Only numbness remained.

"I'll … start right now. Is Isami with you?"

"Yes…"

"Good. I'll … I'll do it then. Bye, Takumi."

He hung up.

Gone. Souma was gone…

He slowly turned his head and met his brother's concerned and questioning look. He told him what he'd just learned, calmly, like a he was telling a story that didn't concern him at all. He was too far gone to care.

That sounded way too familiar to him, now that he thought about it. Souma has an accident that may or may not have left him disfigured. He disappears without a word. No one hears about him for years. That was the second time already. It wasn't even original anymore. To think that it could happen twice to the same person was almost laughable. Actually, Takumi would have laughed if he had the strength to do it. But he didn't feel a thing, so he could only admire the irony of the situation from afar.

He spent the last five years and eight months trying to prove the redhead that he would love him no matter what, and that he'd rather have him crippled, or horribly disfigured, or _anything_ but gone, but still. Takumi left him on his own for two weeks and what happened?

Gone.

Again.

Why did Souma have to be so stupid?

* * *

Okay so... the links between both stories still worry me a little. It isn't a problem right now (I guess) but just so you know: don't hesitate to ask me if you need a summary of the relevant plot point at the start of each chapter or something. I'll gladly add it.

See you!


	2. Denial is a River in Egypt

Ahaha, and I thought I'd be faster this time. Welp, seems I was wrong. But hey, at least here I am!

In the last episode, Souma disappeared in unknown circumstances (but the least you can say it that he went with a bang!). Now Takumi is left with despair and yet another proof that his boyfriend is an idiot. And Isami is left with a despaired Takumi who is also an idiot.  
Also I'm the queen of naming chapters.

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Denial is a River in Egypt**

Isami had to drag two luggage home: his suitcase, and Takumi. His brother was paler than ever, and he hadn't said a word after he told him about his conversation with Alice. He was acting like a zombie, or a very realistic puppet. The blonde had lost all autonomy. The sommelier had to give him orders to make him move, which made him feel like a powerful necromancer with his newly reanimated corpse. It could have been funny, had the circumstances been different… But seeing his brother in such a pitiful state was the most heartbreaking thing he had ever experienced, and he felt a heavy weight in his chest every time he had to ask him to do a simple thing, such as getting up, or taking his suitcase, or even stopping at crossroads.

Ever since they went out of the train, he was following him silently. Isami had to hold his hand and guide him, like a small child, because even walking beside him on his own was apparently too hard. Sure, that made it slightly easier for the sommelier, since he didn't have to make sure his brother was still with him every five seconds like usual. But that was still highly unpractical to literally have someone in tow.

At one point, Isami tried to hurry and catch a bus, but he stopped when he heard a loud tap on the ground. He turned around to see that Takumi had dropped his luggage. That didn't seem to bother him one bit, and he was still looking in the distance, unmoved.

" _Nii-chan,_ you have to pick up your luggage. I can't carry it for you," he told him softly.

Takumi slowly turned around and picked up the handle mechanically. He then went back in position, and Isami started walking again carefully, looking away from this heartbreaking sight.

"You're staying at my place," he finally announced. "I'm not leaving you alone in yours."

"No," his brother refused quietly, his voice so low that he almost didn't hear it. "I have to be there … in case he comes back. Or maybe he'll be here. Maybe it was just a joke, and he's waiting for me…"

He paused, and Isami turned around to see a soft smile appear on his face for a second when he added:

"He said he'd make me try a new dish when I come back…"

Isami sighed. He expected something like that, but he knew better than anyone that spending time in the place you shared with someone who just disappeared was a terrible idea. However, he decided not to oppose to it and simply replied:

"We'll have to stop at my apartment first. There are a few things I need to do, and then we can both go to yours."

There was no answer, and he decided to interpret it as an agreement. Given the situation, he wasn't even sure Takumi would have had the motivation to leave, had he refused to let him go to his place. He would have probably just … stood in Isami's living room, looking as alive as a plastic hat stand.

When they arrived at the blonde's apartment, the sommelier let him sit on the sofa and took care of everything: watering the plants, taking the mail, and even cooking dinner. He proposed that they made pizza together, and got no answer. That told him everything about how bad the situation was. Usually, Takumi at least had some kind of reaction when pizza dough was involved…

.

 _Souma had to make sure no one would recognize him. Putting back on his old mask wouldn't be enough. He was different now, and he had to show it._

 _He looked thoughtfully at a blank mask, Sergei by his side._

" _So, what do you think I could do?" the redhead asked._

" _Well, you could put on a harlequin costume. That would be a great change."_

" _Nah, it's too obvious. And all those colors … I don't know man, I think it will be too much."_

" _Right, right. Batman?"_

" _Still, no."_

" _Okay, so what about…"_

 _Sergei took out a black marker and made a single dot on the mask, under the left eye. He then stepped back to better see the result, and turned to Souma with a satisfied smile._

" _You're a genius," the redhead whispered in awe._

 _No one would ever recognize him with that._

.

Takumi didn't sleep well that night. He kept making those weird dreams where Souma and Sergei came up with new mask ideas, and each new design was weirder and more stupid than the one before. After the single dot came the red line, the fancy moustache, the pink feathers and glitter, the unicorn horn, a game of tic-tac-toe, a very realistic drawing of a poodle, the entire Death Star, a macaroni portrait of Lord Farquaad, and even a Breton flag pattern.

Why did Souma systematically have to ruin his life like that?

As he slowly woke up, the blonde remembered the events of the past evening, and patted the other side of the bed to confirm what he already knew: it was cold and empty, because Yukihira had decided to run away from his life _once again_!

What an idiot.

But Takumi wouldn't let himself be affected by that, he decided. If the redhead could abandon him so easily, then he didn't deserve him to worry about him. He was probably fine, anyway. Meeting new people, cooking new dishes, enjoying his new life without him… Probably too focused on his tragic backstory to think about how his boyfriend of almost six years would feel about being left behind without a word…

The blonde considered staying in bed for a few more minutes (or hours). He could easily do that. He wasn't working today, so he could spend the whole day in bed if he wanted to. However, he felt too angry to sleep now, and the spicy dirt taste filling his mouth was unbearable. Even staying in bed was like torture. He had to do something, and do it right now!

He got up and cooked a magnificent breakfast for Isami and him.

.

"Takumi, you know you can leave the kitchen to Marco for a week or so…" Isami offered the day before they were supposed to reopen the Trattoria.

"Why would I do that? I'm fine!" his brother replied. "What would I do at home all day anyway?"

"You're not going to look for Souma?" he asked with a curious look.

"Of course not! If Yukihira wants to disappear and hide from society again, I'm not going to stop him. Also, why would I lose time finding him it if he's going to leave again later anyway?"

Isami sighed. Given how the blonde had been acting all day, he could have expected that kind of reaction. However, he still felt surprised about it, and he couldn't tell if it was in a good or a bad way. On the one hand, it was great to see his brother getting things done. He was cooking, experimenting, complaining… Compared to how he was when he first heard about Souma's disappearance two days ago, it was an amazing change to see him being active and autonomous again. He even went to the police and managed to answer their questions with a lot more calm and precision than Isami would have expected. But on the other hand, he felt like this indifference was just a façade, and that it would soon crumble. Takumi probably didn't realize it himself, but sooner or later, all of his bottled up feelings, worries, anger, sadness and such would come back at him. And Isami wasn't looking forward to see how hard they would hit.

However, for now, he decided not to argue with his brother. As long as he could keep an eye on him, he felt that it was better to let him do something and keep himself busy. In the meantime, it was up to him to start doing the researches on his own. And he already knew where to start…

.

Souma woke up in a bed, in a room that was both vaguely familiar and absolutely unexpected. What was he doing here? He could barely remember what happened after the explosion, and if it weren't for his painful body, he would have thought that the last event he remembered was only a dream. Seriously, he was fine with being a chef for the Russian mafia, or even living in a literal underground society in the middle of Paris, but his restaurant exploding was still a bit too surreal for him.

The redhead closed his eyes and tried to remember what happened afterward, but it was all blurry. There were people coming to rescue him right before the stove exploded, and everything happened very fast. He could barely hear a thing, and then…

He sighed. Then he didn't know, but it apparently led to him waking up here. Maybe _this_ was the dream, he mused. Or maybe no one came to rescue him and he was dead? If so, death really hurt _a lot_ …

After a while, Souma slowly sat up and decided to explore his new environment and see if he could find answers there. And proper clothes, too…

.

Isami hadn't seen Emile in quite a while, and contrary to Souma who always seemed to know his whereabouts, the sommelier had no exact idea where to find him. Fortunately for him, the old man came to him himself (or to Takumi, at least) soon after he heard about their return from Italy. However, he didn't come with good news: he had already started using his own network to see if the redhead was still somewhere in Paris, but after days of intensive researches, it seemed that either he was hiding himself for good, or he wasn't in the French capital anymore.

Isami sighed. That couldn't be good. Souma could be anywhere at the moment! Given how they found him in France after he left Japan, maybe he was somewhere in South America by now! He got along quite well with a few Chilean chefs, so maybe he was there now? But apparently, he didn't want anyone to know where he was, so going to people he knew probably wasn't in his plans.

The sommelier spent the week that followed his return to France between working, checking on his brother, and calling anyone who might know something about Souma's whereabouts all around the world. However, his efforts soon proved to be pointless. Even Megumi and Jouichirou had no idea where he could be. He had a few doubts about Megumi at first, since she didn't tell them about the redhead when he was still the Phantom, but his father confirmed what she said: he checked himself using his old detective methods, and it seemed that his son wasn't in Japan either. Or if he was, he was pretty well hidden.

Isami's last resort was calling his contacts in Russia, but it soon appeared that they didn't know anything either. The only surprising thing was that the situation didn't seem to alarm them as much as he would have thought. Sergei sounded surprised and angry of course, but apparently, they weren't going to take action to find him, which was very unlike Mikhail. After all, last time he checked, Souma was still his favorite chef. Unless he had found a better one in the meantime and he wasn't interested anymore?

Anyway, it seemed that he had to rule out the Russians as well. Sure, their behavior was very suspicious, but it wasn't like Isami had time to go all the way to Moscow and check himself. He didn't even know their address, and it was very unlikely that they would welcome him with open arms if he were to come and ask if Souma didn't happen to be with them after all.

So now here he was, meeting Mitsuru for the third time already without any more news than before. Souma's new aide seemed pretty serious about these meetings however, so Isami decided to play along. Still, he would have preferred to have Takumi with him. He knew that his brother seemed to do pretty well on his own these days, but he still feared the moment when this apparent calm would start falling apart.

This meeting was short, and they seemed to get shorter and shorter every time. The young man would probably stop calling for them soon. He seemed to get quite desperate as well, and Isami would have felt sorry for him if he didn't have another person to take care of at the moment. At least Takako, Souma's other employee, was trying to help him like she could. She didn't seem as affected as him by her boss' disappearance, and she had already decided to look for another job if she had no news in a month. The contrast with Mitsuru couldn't be greater, since he wasn't planning to do anything until they found his employer and idol, no matter how long it took.

As Isami rushed home, wondering if Takumi would be as calm as usual when he came back or if he had finally come back to reason while he was away, he couldn't help but feel as if someone was following him. He didn't change anything in his pace or behavior, but that was still unsettling. He had this feeling more and more often these days, and he was sure he had seen a tall man following him a few times already. Maybe the police had no proof about the explosion being intentional yet, but Isami was starting to feel that both were linked.

Unless he was just really tired and that made him a bit paranoid…

.

" _Inspector Aldini, are you sure about that?" his assistant asked with great concern._

" _Of course I am. Now leave me, I have to do this alone," Takumi replied._

 _He took a deep breath as the other quickly turned into a small spaceship and flew away. After all this time, all those years tracking him around the globe, he had finally found him…_

 _He opened the door._

 _The underground kitchen was behind it. The blonde didn't expect that, since they were currently on the top floor of some skyscraper in Pakistan, but he soon forgot about it when he saw the man standing in the room, obviously cooking something. He had his back turned on him, and Takumi wasn't sure if the other had seen him. He stepped in and closed the door. The person in the room turned around._

 _The Phantom was back. Souma was exactly like the first time they met: all dressed in loose black clothes, and wearing a white mask. The only difference was the red pattern on it, and the silly nose glasses he wore on top of it._

" _I've finally found you, Souma," he declared calmly, despite his heart racing in his chest._

" _I see you've managed to recognize me despite my clever disguise. You're as good as ever, inspector Aldini," the other declared as he dramatically took off the glasses._

" _It wasn't that hard once I tracked the origin of the_ pâté _you nicely left in that kitchen back in Sarajevo. But I admit you've managed to hide quite well. I didn't expect less from my archenemy," he replied with a smile._

" _What are you planning to do, now that you've found me?"_

" _I'm bringing you home with me of course. You have a restaurant waiting for you."_

 _Souma sighed. The red pattern on his mask was now replaced with a drawing of a frog._

" _You know I can't do that. Why do you think I left in the first place?"_

" _Because you are stupid. You have always been. I'm not giving you a choice, Souma. Take off the mask now."_

" _Make me. If you manage to create a better dish-"_

" _Enough! I'm not falling for that trick again, I don't have time for that!" Takumi interrupted with an irritated frown._

 _He paused for a second, and in a moment of weakness, he continued with a softer, unsure voice:_

" _Please Souma. Just take it off and come home with me. I miss you…"_

 _The last sentence was barely a whisper, but the other seemed to have heard it. Souma stepped closer to him, but still kept some distance between them, as if he was afraid to touch him. The frog on his mask was now a printed face of a bearded man with makeup._

" _I wish I could," he finally replied. "I really do. But I can't. I don't want you to see me like this…"_

 _Takumi smiled weakly._

" _I wouldn't have cared about your face the first time I made you take that mask off. I won't care about it now."_

 _Souma gave him a resigned sigh and finally took off his mask, now covered with a glitter ball pattern, in a move even slower than last time. There was, again, an awkward silence._

 _He was truly disfigured this time. It wasn't … completely inhuman, and he had apparently managed to have some surgery done at some point to repair most of it. However, there were still sequels of the explosion. Marks he would never be able to hide._

" _Souma … I'm so sorry…" he whispered._

" _See? That's why I didn't want you to see this…" the redhead replied with a sad look. "I didn't want you to look at me like that."_

 _Takumi cupped his cheek softly and whispered:_

" _It's okay. There was no need to run away like you did. I love you, you moron…"_

 _He kissed him and despite his initial reluctance, Souma soon responded to it, wrapping his arms around him and holding him close. Strangely, it was only at that moment that it hit Takumi how much he had missed him for all those years. He had missed him so much that it almost hurt, and his happiness was so overwhelming that he could barely breathe. It tasted a bit like those sweets with a sugar concentration so high that they were almost painful to eat._

 _There was no magical recovery when he opened his eyes and looked at his lover, but Takumi couldn't care less because at least he was_ here _. Also, there was no more nose glasses or silly patterns on his face now, which was a great thing._

 _They kissed again. And again. Takumi could never grow tired of it. The feeling of Souma's body against his, his slightly rough hands on his skin, his smell, the taste of his lips against his and that special chocolate ghost flavor that always came with it … he had missed all of that so much… And now here they were, clinging to each other as if their lives depended on it, taking in as much of the other as possible like two travelers in the desert who just found an oasis, only stopping to whisper sweet nothings to each other.*_

 _They started losing their clothes at some point, Takumi didn't remember how. He was sitting naked on a kitchen counter, his legs wrapped around Souma's bare hips, their erections brushing in a way that sent shivers down his spine. It got even better when Souma took them both in his hand and started stroking them, turning him into a complete mess._

" _Souma…" he whispered, unable to finish his sentence._

 _The other didn't need more. He understood. Souma didn't stop stroking him for a second while he slipped a finger in him, his hand now magically covered with lube. The redhead fingering him was almost enough to make him come, because it had been so long and it just felt so good… Years of being together meant that his archenemy knew exactly what he liked, what he had to do to make him lose grip and clear his mind from everything that wasn't him. That went both ways, obviously, and Takumi soon decided to gather whatever focus he still had left in him to lock his eyes in Souma's and order:_

" _Take me. Now."_

 _There was that little spark in his golden eyes, that special mixture of surprise and pleasure that only appeared whenever Takumi started giving him such orders. He didn't make him wait and soon replaced his fingers with something way more interesting. Takumi wrapped his arms around his neck, kissing him to muffle his moans of pleasure and … wait._

 _Was he really sitting on a_ kitchen _… counter …?_

 _._

 _They couldn't do that here! It was way too unhygienic!_

Takumi woke up with a start, breathing heavily. The last remnants of his dream quickly started fading away, slipping like quicksilver whenever he tried to catch them. It felt like his brain was desperately trying to hide them under the rug before he could understand what he was dreaming about only seconds ago.

It wasn't the first time it happened, Takumi was sure of it. However, this time, his brain was too slow and although he couldn't remember the details, he was sure of one thing: he had dreamed of Yukihira again.

Why his brain was so adamant to hide it whenever he had such dreams, the blonde didn't know. But it happened quite often ever since… Since Souma…

Takumi felt a lump form in his throat as soon as the thought came to him, and he sighed. Okay, he understood why.

He turned around and tried to go back to sleep, but it soon proved to be useless. The dirt taste was back, less spicy and more acrid than on the first day, but still as strong as ever. Given the time, he might as well get up already. He took a moment to evaluate what they still had in the kitchen and what kind of breakfast he could make with it, and since he didn't lose his motivation in the process, he soon got out of bed and prepared for the day.

.

Isami woke up to a feast. He came to the living room to find a huge assortment of pastries, cookies, and even French toasts on the table. He wasn't going to complain about that, of course, especially not in front of all these freshly baked delicacies. But still, that didn't seem like a good sign…

He carefully stepped in the kitchen to find his brother taking out what he hoped would be his last batch of cookies. The blonde then turned around to greet him, revealing the most tired face Isami had ever seen on him. The dark circles under his eyes were at black hole level. He sounded energetic, and the way he behaved sure was, but his face… Clearly, there was something wrong.

Takumi remained lively and composed for the entire morning. According to Marco, he also did especially well in the kitchen, and if it weren't for his exhausted look, the sous-chef would have sworn that there was nothing wrong with him. Things only started to go down after the lunch service, and Isami almost had to force his brother to take a nap in the upper room, which remained free after Megumi moved out six years ago. In the meantime, he decided to stay in the Trattoria, feeling that the dam Takumi had put on his feelings would give in any moment now.

Isami heard his brother cry when he came up to check on him two hours later. It was the first time he saw him do that since he first heard the news about Souma's disappearance, and he didn't even shed a tear back then. The sommelier opened the door slowly and went into the room, resolute to spend the rest of the afternoon by his side.

It took a while for Takumi to calm down. Apparently, the cause of this sudden – although long expected – breakdown was another dream about Souma.

" _I don't want to sleep again,"_ he had explained though his tears. _"I keep dreaming about him, and it's getting worse every time…"_

He still fell asleep soon after, and Isami decided to stay with him for a moment, in case of another crisis once he woke up. He seemed to feel better when he did, however, and the sommelier was almost worried about that, fearing that his brother was going to bottle up his feelings once again. However, he soon found out that he was wrong about it when the blonde declared in a tired voice:

"I'm worried about him… It's not only that I miss him, or that I feel hurt. I'm just … so worried."

He sighed, and added:

"That's stupid. I know he can survive just fine anywhere. But still … If he truly disappeared right after the explosion … what if he's hurt and didn't take care of it? What if he feels like no one will ever like him again? What if his luck finally abandoned him and he met the wrong people?"

He bit his lower lip and turned to Isami as he continued:

"I have to find him. I have to at least make sure he's fine."

It was rare for Isami not to know what his twin really wanted to hear. But right now, he had no idea what he should reply to that. Should he comfort him and tell him they would find Souma soon? Was it better to tell him about their current researches and admit they hadn't found a clue?

"I'm going to Russia," Takumi announced suddenly, breaking the silence.

As he heard that, Isami immediately stopped thinking about possible replies.

"Why Russia, all of a sudden?" he asked instead, knowing the answer already.

"I'm sure he's there. And I clearly can't just call Mikhail Ivanovich and ask. So I have to go there and check. And even if I don't find anything, maybe he will be ready to help us? He's still very fond of Souma, so I'm sure he would."

"I talked to Sergei already and he didn't really seem in the mood for that…"

"That means that Souma is there, then. Either because he doesn't want to be found, or because Mikhail Ivanovich doesn't want him to leave. I'll find out soon enough."

That answer was pretty logical, but this decision still sounded rash, especially since it was based on nothing more than instinct, hope, and a single phone call he hadn't even made himself. But Isami knew his brother was the kind of person to do that sometimes. And it would probably be better if he let him try, at least. So instead of sharing his doubts or trying to talk him out of it, he asked:

"When are we leaving?"

"I'm going alone. The Trattoria needs you. I can leave the kitchen to Marco, but there is only one sommelier and I'd feel more at ease with you here."

That was a bit more concerning, Isami thought. As if he was going to let his brother go to a foreign country he knew nothing about on his own. Takumi didn't speak a word of Russian, and he still managed to get lost in his own neighborhood sometimes!

However, despite all of his efforts, he didn't manage to convince his brother to at least go with someone. As if Isami didn't have enough to worry about in his life already…

* * *

* "Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia," Souma whispered at some point. Takumi found it incredibly sexy somehow and replied "The Habsburg rule ended in 1918".

I'd say I'm sorry for the last comment, but I'm not. Sharing fun facts about Europe is the new sexy, deal with it.  
Anyway, I hope the balance between fluff/seriousness and humor is right.

Also, since this is my first attempt at smut in English (and yeah I stopped right in the middle but it's not my fault if Takumi is obsessed with hygiene), so don't hesitate to tell me if it was horribly wrong. I have another scene planned so if this one is terrible, I could use your comments to improve the next one.

Thanks for you attention and see you next time!


	3. Another Perspective

Hi everyone! I'm back with another of Takumi's dreams and Russians everywhere!

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Another Perspective**

Five days later, Takumi was already at the airport, ready to go to Russia. Isami knew the blonde would have loved to leave earlier, but he was glad that his brother needed at least four days to get a visa. That gave both of them some time to prepare for his absence and make sure everything would be fine for his trip. Still, even though the sommelier knew that the other didn't forget anything – he was sure of that since he had checked himself twice – and that he had a place to go to, precise instructions about what to do once in Russia, and a few other things ready just in case, he still didn't feel comfortable with the whole situation. He knew Takumi wasn't exactly great at dealing with anything that wasn't related to cooking, and he was very reluctant to let him go by himself.

However, seeing how restless the blonde had been for the last few days, Isami knew that he had no other choice than to let him go. His brother could be quite stubborn sometimes and at least, in this case, he had a plan.

"Are you sure you have everything?" he still asked before they parted. "You have your passport, your tickets and all?"

"Yes Isami, don't worry about that."

"Are they in an easily accessible pocket?"

"Isami…" the blonde frowned.

"Also, don't forget to go to the toilets before boarding. But not _right_ before boarding, in case you get lost! Oh, and do you still have that Russian-French glossary I gave you? Are you sure you'll be fine with speaking English? You almost never need it so it might be rusty…"

"Isami, calm down. I have everything, and I'll be fine. I'm only leaving for about a week, and if I don't find Souma in the meanwhile, I'll come right back to Paris and we'll plan our next move, okay?"

Isami sighed, but didn't argue. The best he could do for now was to have faith in his brother and take care of the Trattoria while he was away. In that sense, Takumi was right. They couldn't afford to both leave the country on such short notice.

He kept an eye on the blonde until he passed the gates, and slowly went away, feeling lonely already. That didn't last long, however, because he soon became aware of the fact that _there was someone following him._ But at least, if there really was someone after him, they weren't going to reach Takumi in Russia, right?

Isami took a deep breath and turned around, looking as natural as possible. There was nothing suspicious around. He sighed and walked out of the airport. Maybe he just needed more sleep. And given his current situation, it wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

.

 _It was worse than Takumi would have imagined, even in his worst nightmares. Souma's face … was actually crumbling off. It was red and puffy, and there were literally pieces of flesh coming off to reveal…_

 _Wait._

 _Was that perfectly normal and smooth skin underneath?_

 _He took a piece of it and tasted it carefully. It was minced beef. Souma's face wasn't crumbling off. It was just covered with minced beef!_

 _He smiled and enthusiastically started eating it, hearing the redhead's lighthearted laugh ring in his ears. Takumi couldn't believe that his boyfriend thought he was disfigured for two whole weeks, when it was simply…_

 _Wait, was this raw meat really two weeks old?_

But that was disgusting!

Once again, Takumi woke up with a start, horrified by his dream. That was becoming a habit…

The man sitting next to him gave him a curious look, and the blonde decided to ignore it and go back to sleep. Hopefully, there would be no more Souma nor hygienic problems in his next dream. He doubted it, however. It was sort of a constant these days.

.

After Takumi's fourth day away, Isami finally started feeling better about this whole trip. It seemed that his brother had troubles finding Mikhail, but at least nothing bad happened to him, and apparently, people were extremely nice to him. They spontaneously helped him when he had troubles finding something, a few persons walked him back to his hotel when he was lost, and a young boy even brought him back his wallet when he dropped it once. That wasn't exactly what Isami expected, but it was nice to hear. Apparently, the blonde was in good hands.

The sommelier was almost starting to feel that everything might go well after all, until a call from the police changed all of that. They wanted to see Takumi at first, but since they were eager to learn more about Souma, they agreed to see him instead. Isami didn't think much of it at first, until he heard the shocking revelation.

The explosion wasn't an accident.

Apparently, they were now 100% sure that it was criminal, and that someone had tampered with the stove to make it explode.

Of course, that changed everything about the investigation. Now, they needed to learn more about Souma's potential enemies and people who might benefit from his disappearance. When he thought about it, Isami found that the list could be extremely long. As the Phantom, the redhead clearly didn't make friends with the people he terrorized. The sommelier also remembered the story of how he left the Russians and ended up in Paris, without mentioning what he did – or more precisely what _they_ did – to Eizan's right hand man when they needed more information about the Trattoria's mysterious enemy. Actually, Eizan himself was a potential culprit.

However, Souma's past as the Phantom was still a secret and given how most of the things he did weren't exactly legal ... was it really okay for Isami to reveal everything to the police? That … didn't sound like a good idea. That would only lead to more and more questions, until they forgot the main point of the investigation. Or maybe he should trust them a bit more?

In the end, he didn't share his doubts and simply answered the inspector's questions, grateful that Takumi wasn't there at the moment, since his brother couldn't lie to save his life. He also made a mental note to ask Jouichirou or Gin for advice later on. They might be able to tell him exactly to what extent he could reveal the redhead's past. After all, they were the ones who gave him a new legal start when he came back to society, so they knew more about this than him. He hated hiding such important information, but that sounded like the best option.

After a while, Isami got sent off with the usual "Contact us if you can think of something else," and decided to call right after he went home. On his way, he started wondering if that feeling of being followed could actually be real. Now that he thought about it, if someone wanted to get revenge on Souma, it might be that they also wanted to get rid of the people who were close to him. So basically … Takumi.

And here he was, back to worrying. But since his brother was in Russia at the moment, he might be safe from that mysterious enemy, right? Right?

That made yet another important phone call to make. Isami had to make sure his brother was fine. And ask Gin and Jouichirou if they had any tips to share, given their past as private detectives.

.

Piotr Semionovich Drugov was adding the finishing touches to his new clay pot. He knew it already: this wasn't going to be a good one. Unlike his other creations, his mind wasn't at peace while he was making it, and he already knew why.

He sighed. After all this time, he never thought someone would come to talk about his shady past as a bodyguard for a powerful mafia leader. A few years ago, he would have killed that person right on the spot. Now, he simply listened to what the visitor had to say. Piotr had truly changed… But apparently, this wasn't enough.

"I know that you pledged to take revenge on Souma Yukihira, Vasiliev's old chef. What happened to that?" the man had asked.

"I have changed. The dish he made me eat was truly awful, but I have found peace now. In the end, all I ever wanted was to make clay pots and live a peaceful life. That event really helped me find myself, and I hold no grudge against him anymore," he'd replied calmly.

Still, talking about it had stirred something in him, and that feeling only grew as the other kept insisting on how he couldn't have changed that much over the years. In a sense, that was true. There was still anger in him, he could feel it from time to time. But all in all, he was truly a different man. Thousands of years wouldn't be enough to make up for his crimes, but he was still trying to be a better person, day after day.

The stranger had left after a while, and Piotr's mind hadn't been able to rest ever since. However, he was on the right track, he could feel it. Even if that pot wasn't as beautiful as the others, at least he had managed to make it properly this time.

It would probably take time to accept it, but he had truly made the right decision.

.

Souma smiled as he put the finishing touches to his dish. Takumi would love it. Such a shame he wouldn't be able to taste it…

How long had it been already since he left Paris – or more precisely, since Mikhail's men made him leave Paris? A week? Two weeks? He couldn't be sure. The only thing he was certain of was that he was starting to miss the blonde quite a lot. Takumi, his restaurant, his friends … shortly speaking, the redhead missed his life in France. However, he knew that it was necessary, for the time being.

Lots of things had happened after he first walked out of his old room in Moscow. He couldn't remember most of the trip from France, since he was still in shock from the explosion that hit him, but apparently, he got rescued right on time. According to Mikhail's men, someone wanted him dead, and they couldn't let him stay in Paris until they knew who it was and … took measures about that.

Souma suspected Mikhail to be using it as an excuse to keep him in Russia and have him cook for him, but he never dared bringing up the subject. After all, there had truly been an explosion, and it was a fact that the redhead couldn't ignore. So for now, he decided to trust the Russians and let them do their job while he waited and cooked. _Attendre et cuisiner…_

Souma still had to finish that book, now that he thought about it… Mikhail was the kind of person to have _The Count of Monte Cristo_ in his library, but the redhead didn't feel like reading it here. Somehow, he felt like doing it would make him cut yet another tie with his life in France, and that was the last thing he wanted. He was going to come back, at some point. Hopefully, Takumi would understand…

Truth be told, he wasn't worried about his boyfriend's security. Sergei had assured him that he had sent men to keep an eye on the twins, just in case. However, he kept really vague about whether or not they knew about his current location. He hoped that the blonde didn't feel like he abandoned him for no reason or something.

As he sent the plates to the dining room, he made a mental note to ask Mikhail once again when he thought he could send him back to France. This forced vacation was funny at first, but Souma was really starting to feel tired of it.

.

Dimitri had to admit it: looking after Takumi Aldini was one of the most difficult missions he was ever given, and he really deserved a promotion for that. But no matter how much work it required, he still found it rewarding, in a way. And it sure was a lot more interesting than what he had to do in France, when the blonde was still with his brother. Back then, looking after them was quite boring. Sure, his colleague and he had to make efforts not to be too noticeable, since Isami seemed a bit suspicious, but it was nothing compared to what he had to do _now._

Since Takumi was obviously a lot less observant than his twin, the hiding part was way easier than before. The core of his mission now was to make sure nothing bad happened to him, and that meant Dimitri had to be careful _at all times._ He had to look after the blonde constantly, in case a pickpocket tried to steal his wallet – which happened once already, but he managed to catch the boy and force him to give it back – or pay random people in the street to help him find his way, or help him in general, since his secret guardian angel couldn't reveal himself.

Now that he was back in Russia, Dimitri felt way more at ease, and despite all of his extra work, he loved what he was doing deeply. Plus, for once in his life, he truly felt like he was doing something meaningful. He never thought being a ninja-nanny would be so great, but the blonde had really grown on him somehow. To think that just a few weeks earlier, he still believed that homosexuals were sick and shouldn't exist… But everything was different now. It was weird, how much days of constant observation could change a person's beliefs. Dimitri didn't regret it though. He felt sincerely sorry for Takumi, and although he couldn't tell him anything about his boyfriend's situation and had to send him in the wrong direction on a daily basis, deep down, he still rooted for him. Actually, he would have already helped him find Souma if he hadn't received direct orders from his boss, stating that he had to keep him away for a while.

As he walked to his meeting, he started wondering how long "for a while" really meant. Not that he really minded doing what he was doing, especially now that someone else was here to replace him when needed, but he could feel that Takumi was starting to lose hope, and he hated seeing him like that. That man truly deserved to be happy!

"You are late, Dima," Sergei remarked when he finally arrived.

"I'm sorry about that. But I had to give a few instructions to the new guy before I left. As I told you, Takumi Aldini is truly hard to protect."

"Even when he is peacefully sleeping in his hotel room?" the other asked, a hint of amusement in his voice.

Dimitri kept silent, and his boss dropped the subject and started explaining why he wanted to see him. The secret bodyguard smiled when he learned about his plan to let him lead Takumi to where Souma was. That was the first good news of the day! His colleague in France would be so thrilled to learn that! Andrei wasn't as deeply involved in Takumi's story as Dimitri was, but at least he would be glad to hear that his boring mission would soon be put to an end.

.

Etsuya Eizan wasn't the kind of man who was easily impressed. He was usually very collected at all times, and he never let stress or fear affect him. However, there was only one way to describe his current state of mind: he was scared to death. For the past few days, his feelings kept shifting from various shades of vague anxiety to complete terror and all in all, he was in a state of constant fright and restlessness.

Why did Souma Yukihira always manage to put him in trouble like that? Sure, it was Etsuya's own fault this time, but never before had he made such a stupid decision and, more importantly, failed so critically. His plans always seemed to be doomed to failure whenever that guy was involved. Had he been the kind of person to think that way, the businessman would have said that it was unfair.

Despite all his efforts, he could never forget about Yukihira, nor forgive him for the complete fiasco that was his second plan to take over the Trattoria Aldini. The Phantom did offer him a perfect opportunity to hurt their reputation at first, but then…

Just thinking about it annoyed him already.

Somehow, Etsuya didn't hold a grudge against the Aldini brothers. Sure, Takumi was the one who made his plan fail the first time, not to mention that the businessman lost one of his best partners soon after that because of him. However, he wasn't really angry. That was fair game, and he didn't really seek revenge when he decided to use the Phantom's urban legend to try and get their restaurant again. There was an opportunity and he seized it, that was all. The fact that _this_ was far from being fair play didn't cross his mind for a second. His ability to think that way was what made him such a successful businessman after all.

But then, there was Yukihira, and the mere thought of that guy was enough to make Etsuya angry beyond measure. He hated him with every fiber of his being, and he couldn't even explain why. After all, there were plenty of people he could hate more than him. Somehow, knowing this made him loath the redhead even more. He held him responsible for everything, and the fact that the other even came back to taunt him after his plan failed, coming to _his own bedroom_ and attacking him with the most disgusting dish he had ever tasted in his life only confirmed this impression. That, and the fact that without his ties to the Russian mafia, the Trattoria would have been his by now.

It took Etsuya a while to put a name on the Phantom and discover his real identity, but when he finally managed to get this crucial information, everything became clear. Since that moment, the businessman had decided to take revenge, no matter how long it took him!

Through years of researches (which he only did during his rare moments of free time, because he wasn't some kind of revenge obsessed freak and he had several successful businesses to run after all), Etsuya found out about Piotr Drugov and how the man had pledged to kill their common enemy someday. Sending someone to anonymously remind him about his old grudge and letting the Russian take care of everything himself was a perfect plan. This way, he could get rid of Yukihira without getting involved himself. Plus, his disappearance was sure to affect Takumi Aldini, and the Trattoria as a whole, if the chef couldn't cook anymore because of grief. Two birds, one stone.

Maybe Etsuya was a bit bitter about losing Mimasaka after all…

Of course, his data mentioned that Drugov had seemingly given up on violence and was now a well-known potter. However, people like him never truly changed. He could talk about peace all he wanted, Etsuya was confident that his past habits would soon come back once he mentioned Yukihira's name.

Needless to say, he clearly didn't expect the man to flat out refuse. The person he had sent to convince him was an excellent negotiator and had offered strong arguments, but despite all his efforts, Drugov's decision was final. He had given up on violence years ago and wasn't interested in vengeance anymore. He had now found the true meaning of life, or at least his own purpose, and it was as simple as making potteries and generally being a nice, simple person.

Etsuya could have insisted, using more … compelling arguments, but that would have meant getting involved more personally in this, and that was the last thing he wanted. That's why he decided to lower his revenge expectations and go for something less drastic. He didn't _really_ want to see the other dead, after all. He could simply ruin his reputation as a chef, destroy his newly opened restaurant, and make sure that he wouldn't be able to work in the food industry ever again. In a way, it was even better, because then Etsuya would be able to personally witness him falling in despair as he was forced to choose between the two most important things in his life. Would he disappear once again, leaving behind everyone he loved and starting a new life under a different name, somewhere no one would ever recognize him? Given how involved he seemed in his relationship with the Aldini chef, that seemed unlikely. However, the other option was even worse: he could decide to stay in Paris with him, giving up on his passion, and be forced to witness his boyfriend's success without being able to take part in it. And not only his boyfriend, actually. Everyone Yukihira seemed to care about was involved in cooking somehow. The redhead would never be able to escape it. Bitterness would slowly build up in him until he couldn't stand it anymore, letting it ruin his relationships with his family and friends until nothing remained but his own loneliness and broken dreams.

The more he thought about it, the better it sounded. That was a perfect kind of revenge! And given Etsuya's relations and means, it would be very easy to achieve… He just had to send someone sabotage the restaurant in various ways, including introducing rats or putting long expired food in the storage, then anonymously send a sanitary inspection and…

That plan had been refined since he first had the idea but all in all, it sounded perfect.

So why, oh _why_ did the person he sent to do that had to be such a complete idiot? How could he understand from his instructions that he had to make the whole kitchen explode?! Now the police was after him, and it seemed that even the _Russian mafia_ was also looking for him. Worse, Yukihira wasn't even harmed! The businessman had no idea how exactly the redhead had been rescued, but he was infuriated. How could this even happen?!

Etsuya took a deep breath to try and calm down a bit. It wasn't really effective. He missed Johnson, sometimes. At least, his old right hand man would have never made such a stupid mistake. However, he reminded himself, there was still hope. After all, no one knew that he was behind this explosion. Not yet, at least. That gave him plenty of time to prepare for the storm to come.

* * *

I hope you guys have nothing against those Russians because they're here to stay. I don't know why they're still here, Sergei was supposed to be a single mention in the Phantom and look at them now!

Also, I don't know if you noticed, but I love Dima deeply. He wasn't supposed to be anything special at first. He wasn't even supposed to have his own point of view, but then I thought about how funny it would be to have a Russian babysit Takumi in Russia and look at how much he's grown! My sweet Russian baby who probably killed several people in cold blood... Seriously, I could talk about him for hours so if you have a question about him or you want precision, feel free to ask!

See you soon!


	4. Business Time

Rejoice everyone! Finally, it is here... The long promised (to some people at least, I hope they're still reading...)... SEX SCENE!  
Yay, hooray everyone! It's really soft and maybe a bit disappointing idk, you tell me.

Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 4 Business Time**

Finally! After four days of intensive researches, Takumi had finally found the place he was looking for! He didn't know how addresses worked in Russia, but it seemed like a very complicated system, since no one in the whole city had been able to show him the way before. Every time he asked, people sent him to various parts of Moscow, usually nice ones that allowed him to do some sightseeing, but that was never what he was looking for. Until now.

He turned to thank his savior, a tall and somewhat intimidating man who seemed utterly unable to make eye contact with him. Looking intently at the door, the other muttered:

"Actually, I'll come in with you."

He then ringed the bell and said something in Russian to the gatekeeper who let them both in without a word. The man then led him to a small room with a few seats and told him to wait while he called the boss. Takumi wondered which "boss" he meant exactly, and was pleased to see Sergei come in soon after.

"Takumi, what a pleasure to see you in Russia!" he greeted him with a smile. "What brings you here?"

"Hello, Serg- Serioga. I'm glad to see you too!"

Takumi could never get used to the diminutive, but Sergei always insisted on it because, as he said when they first met, "Souma's friends are my friends". The blonde was usually against it, but he felt that now wasn't the time to displease him. He hesitated for a second, and then continued:

"Actually, I'm here about Souma. I don't know if you've heard but…"

"About his disappearance? Yes, I have."

"And he's really not here, then?" Takumi asked, a hint of hope in his voice.

Sergei's face became grimmer when he heard that.

"We already told your brother he isn't. Don't you trust us?" he replied with a low, intimidating voice.

Takumi shuddered.

"That's not what I mean!" he replied hastily. "It's just … maybe he came here since your last call and if he didn't…"

He paused for a second and bit his lip. Suddenly, he wasn't so sure if his plan was such a good idea. Still, he continued:

"If you really don't know where he is, please, help me find him."

He didn't know if asking these people for help was the best solution, or even _a good_ solution, but he was desperate right now, and he was ready to pay the price, whatever that meant.

"If he isn't with us, nor with you, maybe he doesn't want to be found, you know," the Russian declared slowly.

"I know that," Takumi replied. "But I'm so worried… I just want to make sure he's okay, even if I can't see him myself."

As he looked up to the other man, the blonde wondered if his words had moved him in any way. He had no idea how to interpret his expression. He should have expected that, however. According to Souma, Sergei was known as the King of poker faces around here… And given how most of Mikhail's men looked, not to mention Mikhail himself, that meant a lot.

Takumi had no idea what to do next. Should he drop to his knees or something? Should he keep silent until the other made a decision? Should he insist a bit more? But if so, what could he even say? He closed his eyes and sighed. To think that he went all the way to Russia, spent days looking for this place, and all of that for nothing!

But he couldn't give up now, he decided. He had to…

"Hey Serioga, I was looking for…"

Takumi could have recognized this voice anywhere. He opened his eyes and…

"Takumi?! What are you doing here?"

There, in the door way, right behind Sergei, stood a very surprised Souma. Takumi could barely believe his eyes. He was so bewildered to see him here that he didn't think one second about how the Russian had blatantly lied, or how he had tried to imply that the redhead was hiding from him on purpose. At that moment, his mind went completely blank except for one thought: Souma was here. He was right here, in front of him. Takumi _was right_ after all!

He called the redhead's name slowly, unable believe what was happening right before him. As he pronounced it, he somehow managed to get out of his trance and exploded:

"I should be the one asking! Everyone has been looking for you everywhere! We're all worried sick! I thought you might be _dying_ somewhere! And here you are, casually hanging out in Russia like phones don't exist!"

Now that he thought about it, Souma looked perfectly fine. His face was uncovered, he was standing just fine, and there was no trace of injury anywhere! He had absolutely _no excuse_ for his absence! Right now, Takumi was too angry to even feel relieved about it.

Neither of them noticed when Sergei walked away, saying that he had to talk to his boss and carefully closing the door behind him. Souma was just standing there stupidly, like a dumb fish in a fisherman's net. Using the first thing he could think of, Takumi grabbed his cap and threw it at him, hitting his chest with a dull, muffled sound.

"Just say something!" he yelled.

"You didn't know?" the redhead finally asked, sounding genuinely surprised.

"Of course I didn't know! No one knows where you are! Isami tried to call here, but they said they hadn't seen you!"

"Wow… I'm sorry, Takumi. I really thought that you knew I was fine."

"What, so you mean they lied to both of us?"

"It … seems that they did. They were never clear about whether or not they told you, but… I was so sure you knew."

"What are you even doing here, Souma? What happened in Paris?"

"So they really told you nothing…" the redhead mused. "Okay, so here's what happened: I was going to cook something in the kitchen at my restaurant, then the stove made a weird sound, and I can't remember anything from that point until the moment I woke up in my old room in Russia. I've heard several versions of the story since then, but that doesn't remind me of anything. I do remember an explosion, though… Anyway, apparently someone intentionally tampered with the stove to make it explode, and the Boss' men are currently trying to find out who it was. Also, they've sent men to keep an eye on Isami and you, just in case. Actually, that's why I really thought that you knew…"

"So that's why Isami had this weird feeling these days… I have to tell him about it, I'm sure it's driving him crazy not to know whether someone is really following him or not."

"Okay, so you had no idea about that either…"

"I told you, no one told us anything! I would have come to Russia earlier if I had a clue! Or I wouldn't have come at all, if I knew you were fine."

"But why did they keep silent about it?"

Takumi was going to tell him his theory, namely that Mikhail did it on purpose to keep him longer, if he even planned to send him back to France one day, but before he could open his mouth, the Russian stepped in the room and declared:

"It was for your own safety."

The blonde highly doubted that, but he decided that it was wiser not to argue.

"Takumi, I'm happy to see you. Welcome to my house! How has Russia been, so far?" Mikhail asked with a pleasant smile.

"Wonderful. I'm surprised by how nice people are, here."

"You're surprised my people is nice?" he asked with a displeased expression.

Grave mistake… The blonde was struggling to find a proper answer when Souma intervened:

"He's used to Paris, of course he is surprised to see that strangers can be nice, too."

His remark made Mikhail laugh. He was probably joking from the start, now that Takumi thought about it. That man really had a strange sense of humor…

"You're right. I'll forgive him then," he replied with an amused look.

"But … what do you mean when you say it was for our own safety?" Takumi asked, going back to the main subject.

"Well, we don't know who wanted to get rid of Souma. There are very dangerous people out there, and you knowing about where he was would have been … problematic. They could have tried to use you to get to him, for instance."

"And you still don't know who it was?" Souma asked.

"We are getting closer, but we still can't put a name on the culprit. But we will know about that soon, don't worry."

"And what happens to Souma until then?" Takumi inquired.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm leaving in five days. I promised my brother that I would be back by then, no matter what. Am I supposed to come back on my own and tell him I haven't found Souma?"

"Hmmm… It is true that you are a poor liar," Mikhail declared thoughtfully.

Takumi gritted his teeth. Of course he couldn't deny it, but how did the other even know about that? Did Souma tell him? Was there _anyone_ in the _entire world_ who didn't know that he was a terrible liar?! There was nothing wrong with that anyway!

"We will receive our next report tomorrow. If we get any relevant information, maybe you won't have to lie to your brother."

"And Souma will come back to France with me?"

Mikhail let out a heartbroken sigh.

"Yes, then Souma will be able to come back with you."

The redhead smiled at the answer, until the Russian turned to him and added:

"However, there isn't much you can do in France, since your kitchen is destroyed. So why not stay in Russia until you can reopen your restaurant?"

He said that with an innocent expression that didn't fit him one bit.

"Well… I'll have to look after the reparation, work things out with the insurance company, and at least tell my employees that I'm alive and we can go back to work as soon as possible…"

"Right," Mikhail admitted with a look that made it clear that he wasn't planning to give up on keeping his favorite chef a bit longer.

Souma seemed to notice, and he soon added:

"But I guess once it's all done, there isn't much I can do while the restaurant is back to normal. So I might get bored at some point…"

"Great, so it's settled. If we find out you can leave safely, you go back to France with Takumi and then you come back to Russia."

Both his smile and tone were nice and pleasant, but it was obvious that there was no room for contestation. In a way, Mikhail was a simple man with simple needs; and it happened that his main motivation in life was to enjoy great food. The problem was that he had enormous means to get what he wanted, and he wasn't used to refusal…

But at least, Takumi thought, now he had found Souma _and_ he would likely be able to go back to France with him, even if it was only for a short while. That was better than nothing.

.

Gin and Jouichirou had been unanimous on this: Isami shouldn't tell the police about Souma's past as the Phantom, and mentioning Russia and what he did there was completely out of the question as well. However, they also agreed that it wouldn't do to just hide everything from them. After all, they were trying to help… In the end, their advice was to wait a bit and see how the situation evolved. As for them, they were planning to discuss thoroughly what could be said and what should be hidden at all costs. They would come back to him soon, they said.

However, given what the slightly nervous policeman was telling him over the phone, the ex-detectives' work would be useless. Because what the other was saying was basically:

"The case is closed. It seems that there was a mistake in our data and the explosion was really accidental. We're sorry for the troubles that might have caused."

Isami didn't buy it. He didn't believe that guy for one second, if only because he seemed to be as bad a liar as _his brother_! The sommelier never thought it would be possible, but apparently, there were really people who could reach Takumi's level in that regard… He tried to insist a bit, but it soon became clear that the man knew nothing about said case, and that talking to him would be useless. He gave up a few minutes later, to the policeman's relief, and hung up with a sigh and more questions than ever.

He called the ex-detectives soon after, before it was too late in Japan and he had to wait until the next day, and reported what just happened. They were as suspicious about it as he was. Sure, a mistake was a possibility, but that didn't sound right.

And if all of that wasn't enough already, Takumi didn't call him at the end of the day, like he was supposed to. Instead, Isami simply received a short text saying: _"I'm fine. I'll talk to you tomorrow"._ That was quite intriguing as well. Sure, he was glad to have at least some kind of news, but that was a bit too concise for his brother, especially since he had promised to call every day so that Isami wouldn't worry about him.

" _Are you sure you're okay? Did something happen?"_ he asked, hoping the other would answer. Luckily, he didn't have to wait for the reply, which was as short as his previous message. _"Nothing special, I'm just exhausted. It's been a long day."_ The end.

In a way, it had been a long day for Isami as well, and given the situation Takumi was in, he could understand that his brother might feel too tired to speak at the moment. It was the end of his fifth day in Russia, and he would soon have to come back to France. If he still didn't have a clue about Souma's location despite his intensive researches, he might feel discouraged as well.

In the end, the sommelier decided to leave it for now. If he didn't have news by tomorrow, he would start feeling anxious. But for now, he had other things to worry about. For one, he had to find out who could have made the police dismiss an obviously criminal explosion as a simple accident. Also, he still had to check whether or not he was really being followed, because that feeling was seriously starting to drive him crazy!

.

Takumi was moved in Mikhail's house in the afternoon. Someone was sent to the hotel with him to retrieve his stuff, he got offered a room, and in just a couple of hours, he was ready to spend the end of the week there. The blonde wasn't going to complain about it anyway, since that meant spending more time with Souma.

He still couldn't believe that he had found him. Sure, he came to Russia full of hope, but this outcome still exceeded all of his expectations.

Currently, the redhead was sitting on his bed, idly watching him as he sorted his stuff and checked that nothing was missing. Once he was satisfied with it, the blonde turned to him and looked back at him with his arms crossed.

He kept studying him for a moment, unable to do more. For some reason, he didn't dare to approach the other. It might just be a dream, after all. It wouldn't be the first time…

"Is something wrong?" Souma asked with a questioning look.

"Not really," he replied thoughtfully.

He felt like he was forgetting something…

"What time is it?" he asked suddenly as he remembered what it was.

"About 5 PM," the redhead replied after a quick glance at the alarm clock on the nightstand.

"I'll have to call Isami soon, then," Takumi announced.

"Except you can't, because you might tell him about me and he can't know this right now," Souma pointed out.

"I have to at least send him a message to say I'm okay. I don't want him to worry."

"Fine, but I'll have to check what you're writing, in case you're leaking information," the other announced with an amused smile.

"Come on, I'm not that bad at hiding the truth!"

"Yes, you are," the redhead retorted, his smile growing wider.

"Fine," Takumi sighed as he grabbed his phone and joined the other on the bed.

He was ready to write something, but the feeling of Souma peeking over his shoulder made him lose his focus. He knew it was just a small text to say he was okay, but his mind went blank whenever he tried to formulate it.

"Stop looking at me! You're making me nervous," he snapped.

The redhead chuckled and took Takumi's phone. The blonde let out an indignant cry as the other avoided his attempt to take it back. He quickly wrote something down and showed him the text he had just sent: _"I'm fine. I'll talk to you tomorrow"._

"See? It's as simple as that! And it's not even a lie!" he declared proudly as he gave him back his phone.

Takumi retrieved it with a huff and replied:

"I could have written that if you hadn't been distracting me."

"So that's how it is now? My mere presence is enough to make you lose focus?" the other taunted with a suave expression and a playful smile.

"Don't be so full of yourself," the blonde huffed, although he could still feel blood rushing to his cheeks.

Seriously, after all this time, how could Souma still make him blush like that?

Also, what if he still couldn't tell the truth by tomorrow? Would they have enough time to think of something?

Takumi almost jumped when he heard his phone ring to announce that Isami had replied.

" _Are you sure you're okay? Did something happen?"_

"Apparently, you weren't convincing enough," he declared as he showed the message to Souma, forgetting about his previous interrogations.

The redhead grabbed his phone once again and quickly wrote an answer. _"Nothing special, I'm just exhausted. It's been a long day."_

"Here you go," he said as he gave it back to him.

"Now _that_ 's a lie," Takumi pointed out.

Souma gave him a toothy grin that sent shivers down his spine. Most of the time, that smile meant…

"Trust me, it won't be a lie once I'm done with you…" he purred.

"Wait, Souma we can't-" he started.

The rest of his sentence was muffled by Souma's hungry kiss. Takumi melted at the contact, all thoughts of resistance forgotten. The redhead let his tongue trail on his lips, and he slightly opened his mouth as he shifted to get a better access. Maybe this was another dream, the blonde thought. If so, he really didn't want to wake up.

Before he had time to elaborate on that idea, Takumi found himself pinned on the soft bed, still kissing Souma, whose hands were slowly traveling up his sides, making him shiver in anticipation.

"Wait … did you put on weight?" the redhead suddenly asked with a genuinely surprised look, stopping everything.

"Of course I did! I was so worried…"

"I never thought you were the kind of person to eat when you're worried…" he remarked.

"What do you think? I cooked a lot and then…"

Souma chuckled as he let his hands wander on the blonde's stomach, grabbing his new love handles and tickling his sides, making him writhe to escape his touch. He then pulled off the blonde's shirt and considered him for a moment. Takumi knew the results weren't striking, since it had only been two weeks, but the other still seemed quite shocked and intrigued. As he was starting to wonder if there was a problem with it, Souma grinned.

"I love it…" he whispered, sounding like it was the best thing he had seen in years.

In Souma's mental dictionary, "chubby" and "Takumi" were complete opposites. It was like the blonde didn't even have the ability to store fat! In their six years together, he had never seen him put on weight. And yet here he was, in front of a sight he never imagined he would ever lay his eyes on. The redhead felt like he had just unlocked a _collector Takumi._ Sure, he hated being the reason behind that change, given what it meant, but he sure was going to enjoy it as much as possible while it lasted!

He resumed his previous activity until it struck him that usually, fat wasn't _only_ stored in the belly… He lowered his hand to check his theory, and the result didn't disappoint him. First, Takumi let out a surprised yelp, which was always nice to hear. But more importantly … he had a bigger butt. Takumi had the booty! Souma's life couldn't get any better.

He completely lost control past this point, and he was ready to take things to the next step when Takumi stopped him and looked anxiously at the door.

"Don't worry, I've locked it when I came in," Souma shrugged.

"Don't tell me this was your plan from the start…" the blonde frowned.

"It was my plan from the start!" he grinned happily before going back on Takumi's neck.

To his disappointment, the other stopped him once again.

"But Souma, what if someone hears us?" he insisted.

"You'll have to be silent then…" the redhead replied with a teasing smile, loving the idea already.

Takumi raised an eyebrow and countered in a suggestive tone:

"You do realize that I'm way more silent when I top, right?"

Souma loved it even more. Bold Takumi was the best Takumi. And bold _chubby_ Takumi was just a whole new level of greatness. However, he already had a very precise idea of what he wanted to do with that newfound ass. Not the mention the love handles…

"Is that a challenge?" Souma asked with a grin.

"More like a condition," the other replied with an amused look.

Souma considered the idea for a second. Maybe he could wait a bit to carry out his various plans. He had so many ideas already, and so little time… However, having Takumi giving him _orders_ was a situation rare enough to be enjoyed whenever he could.

"Make me," he breathed, inches away from his lips.

Given the enthusiastic way the blonde reversed their positions, he seemed to take this challenge very seriously. And the whole point of a challenge was to offer at least a little resistance, right? Once Takumi got rid of the redhead's shirt and started putting butterfly kisses down his chest, Souma decided to strike his weakest points (which, let's be honest, were most of his body). He gave him a playful smile when the blonde sent him a disapproving look. After all, who was he to disappoint him? As a "punishment", Takumi started licking his neck, just beneath what he knew was the most sensitive spot.

"You'll have to do better than this if you really want to top…" Souma teased.

As a result, the blonde nipped right on the spot and brushed his thigh on his groin, making him hiss with pleasure. Nice move…

They soon lost whatever was left of their clothes, all trace of uneasiness forgotten on Takumi's part. Souma seized a few opportunities to tease him a bit, playing with his sensitive spots when the other expected it the least, but he was careful not to abuse his power. His boyfriend was quite easy to turn into a moaning, panting mess, and no matter how much he loved the sight, that wasn't exactly what they wanted at the moment. Takumi seemed to have a bit more backbone than usual, but Souma didn't want to try his luck too much. Especially given the heavenly way his hand was working on his cock right now, sending waves of pleasure through his whole body. It would be quite a shame to give up on that now…

"Oh no…" Takumi suddenly said as he slowed down his movements, much to Souma's disappointment.

"What is it?" he asked.

"… There's no lube here," the blonde remarked with a frown.

"Too bad, we'll have to do without," Souma replied with a shrug. "You'll just have to be extra good at prep work then…"

As always, Takumi rolled his eyes at that silly expression of his. However, he knew the redhead was right. It wasn't an absolute necessity after all, especially since they didn't need condoms either.

"Do you still have that bottle of olive oil with you?" Souma asked.

"Don't even think about it," the blonde threatened.

"Just kidding!" he replied with a chuckle.

Once Souma was ready, Takumi started penetrating him slowly, careful not to hurt him. That part always worried him a bit, especially given their current lack of means, but his lover didn't seem to mind.

"Can I move?" he asked softly.

"If you don't start right now, I'll do it myself," the other deadpanned.

Takumi let out a breathless chuckle and started moving slowly as Souma got up on one elbow to pull him into a kiss that became more and more heated as the blonde gained confidence and found his rhythm with slow, deep thrusts. It took him some time to find the right angle, but given the way Souma soon had to stop everything to catch his breath, he was doing just fine. Takumi tilted his head to take care of his lover's exposed neck, just to make sure to turn him into a complete mess. He didn't do that as often as he could, but he absolutely loved it when the other was losing his mind over him, moaning his name like it was the only thing he could remember. It never lasted long, however. Somehow, the redhead always managed to regain his focus after a while, and that was when the fun really started.

As predicted, Souma opened his eyes soon after and gave him the sexiest, most heated look Takumi could ever imagine. It felt like these amber eyes were piercing right through him. His partner slowly licked his lips, knowing how much effect this kind of face had on him. That made the blonde lose his focus for a second, and the other chuckled.

"Are you tired already?" he purred.

"Are you kidding? I'm not even started!" he replied, trying to ignore his heavy breathing.

"Too bad, because it's my turn now," Souma declared as he switched their positions.

Although he wasn't going to admit it, Takumi was thankful for the pause. And for the gorgeous sight that was Souma riding him like there was no tomorrow. He enjoyed it for a moment, while he tried to catch his breath. Once he felt slightly more confident in his ability to move properly, he got up and started playing with Souma's erect nipples, which seemed very effective because the other stumbled a bit when the blonde started licking them. He put a hand on the other's back, enjoying how insanely hot his body felt against his. That was amazing. To think that only a couple of hours ago, he wasn't even sure he'd be able to see him ever again…

But this wasn't a dream this time, right?

Souma pinned him on the bed for a messy, passionate kiss. Since he stopped moving his hips in the process, Takumi took over at this point. The position wasn't really comfortable however, and he knew that he would have to change soon. He was so close already…

Gathering whatever will he had left in him, he switched their positions again and used his free hand to pump his lover's neglected member until they both came, moaning each other's name.

Still dizzy from his orgasm, Takumi slipped off and let himself fall beneath Souma, exhausted and content.

"See? I told you it wouldn't be a lie," the redhead panted, turning his head to give him a smug smile.

"Except that _I_ am done with _you_ ," Takumi replied with an amused voice, wondering when the other's sense of humor started rubbing off on him.

"Give me a moment to recover and we'll see who's done with who."

The blonde gave him a tired smile. He was almost ready to fall asleep, and his eyes were getting harder and harder to keep open. However, Souma woke him up suddenly when he exclaimed:

"Oh shit!"

"Language," he reprimanded by pure reflex. "What's the matter?"

"I was supposed to cook dinner and look at the time! I have to hurry!" the other replied as he quickly got up and rushed to the bathroom.

He got out a few seconds later and said:

"Come in the shower with me, dinner will be ready faster with your help!"

Takumi sighed and got up with a groan. He still couldn't repress a smile, thinking about how incredibly _normal_ this conversation sounded.

Souma was here, and even though they were at the other side of Europe, the blonde still felt that he was finally back home.

* * *

Phew! I had so much fun with this chapter, I remember when I first had the idea (in the middle of the night, as is customary) I kept getting up every five seconds to write down my ideas. The actual writing was a bit harder. The proofreading was horrible. But anyway, here it is!  
I hope it was fine? Seriously I'm really out of shape here (and I was never in shape when it comes to English...) so please tell me!

See you next week! (yeah, I think I can go a bit faster for the last two chapters)


	5. This is the End

In case you're wondering: this is NOT the last chapter. There's an epilogue/conclusion thingy (a real one this time) after that and then I'll finally be done with this story. Phew!

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 5: This is the End**

"So what you're saying is … Souma is coming back with me, right?" Takumi asked when Sergei explained him what his men had learned.

"He can leave, yes. We don't have all the proofs we need yet, but it seems that the person behind the explosion isn't as dangerous and ill-intentioned as we expected. We're confident enough that we'll find the culprit by the end of the week, so it will be fine for the both of you to go back to France," the Russian explained.

Takumi turned to Souma to declare:

"Perfect, so now you can buy your plane ticket."

"Sure," the redhead replied. "Let's hope there are still free seats in your plane."

"If there aren't, we can take care of that for you…" Sergei pointed out.

"That won't be necessary," Souma chuckled. "I don't want to deprive someone of their trip."

The Russian smiled, and Takumi started breathing again. That man was looking so serious all the time… The blonde truly had no idea how his boyfriend always managed to know when he was joking.

"Hey, that also means that you'll be able to call Isami and tell him everything," Souma then remarked, looking at Takumi.

The blonde nodded with a relieved smile and decided to take care of it as soon as possible, since his brother probably wasn't busy at the moment. The three of them kept talking for a few minutes until a man entered the room and asked if he could talk to Sergei privately. Takumi recognized the Russian who led him to this place and came with him to his hotel when he was fetching his luggage. As always, the other was regularly giving him quick glances, still avoiding to meet his eyes, and the blonde had no idea how to interpret that. He thought they were threatening looks at first, but since that person was never aggressive toward him, he guessed that was just how he normally looked. That didn't explain why he always seemed to pay so much attention to him, however…

Sergei replied that he would join him soon, and the newcomer left without a word, sending yet another quick glance in his direction as he walked past him. The Russian then made some last recommendations, and before he left them as well, Takumi couldn't help but ask him if that man had something against him.

"Dima? I don't think so," Sergei replied. "He's the one who was sent to Paris for your protection, so that could explain why he pays so much attention to you. But I guess that's just a habit, so don't worry about it too much."

Once he left the room, Souma stepped closer to Takumi and snickered:

"Maybe he just has a crush on you…"

The blonde turned to him and shared his doubts. He really looked annoyed or something.

"You know, most of the guys here have a resting pissed off face. That doesn't mean anything," Souma replied. "I remember once, there was that guy who always looked like I had personally offended him, and I really thought he hated me for some reason. But one day, he came up with a black eye and someone told me he got into a fight because someone talked shit about me…"

"Wow… Did you talk to him afterward? Also, mind your language."

"Well, I tried, but I could never really make him talk. I think he was just really shy…"

Takumi sighed.

"If I spend one more week here, I'll start to think that all of these people are actually little sweethearts inside…"

"Don't get me wrong, I'm pretty sure they're all dangerous and could kill a man in a heartbeat or something. But since they have to look serious and threatening all the time, I guess they have a hard time expressing their feelings…"

"Souma, how long have you been reflecting on the psychology of gangsters?"

"I just came up with it!" the redhead replied with a grin. "Now, what do we do?"

"I'll have to call Isami, and I think you should buy your ticket as soon as possible. We'll see what we can do after that," Takumi decided.

Souma approved of this program and they both went to their respective rooms to get things done.

.

For Takumi, being able to tell his brother everything that had happened since the day before was a huge relief. He had been _dying_ to tell him all day, and more importantly, he really wanted to reassure him about this whole "feeling followed" thing. Isami sounded pretty relieved to hear these good news, but he didn't seem to share the Russians _'_ impression about how harmless their mysterious enemy really was. His brother then told him about how the police had dropped the case, and shared his worries about what such a person might be capable of.

As he was listening to the other, Takumi mindlessly opened the top drawer of his nightstand. He hadn't checked what was in there earlier, and he didn't expect to find much. Actually, he didn't expect to find anything, and he did it more as a way to keep his hands busy than out of real curiosity. Obviously, he wasn't prepared for what was awaiting in there.

Takumi almost dropped the phone when a giant, wobbly pink dildo almost jumped to his face. He completely stopped listening to Isami as he noticed the rest of the content. There were also … condoms? And lube? And _fluffy_ _handcuffs_? What was all of this doing here?!

He tried to push the drawer back, but it was now blocked by the pink monster, wriggling before his eyes like it was mocking him, and he couldn't use both hands to put it back in place, since he had to hold the phone. Did he really want to touch _that_ anyway?

"Takumi? Are you alright?" he heard Isami ask.

"M-me? Yes. Sure. Everything is fine," he stuttered, still struggling to put that damn _thing_ back in the drawer and forget about its existence.

"Are you sure? You sound weird, all of a sudden…"

 _Of course I sound weird! I've just opened a drawer full of sex toys and now I can't close it and I can't believe I've slept next to that thing last night,_ he thought.

"I-it's nothing," he stammered instead.

"Hey Takumi, which plane are you taking again?"

There was a moment of awkward silence.

The blonde slowly turned around to find a very confused Souma in the doorway. That was it. His life was officially over.

Of all the things he could have expected behind that door, Souma never thought that he would find a completely panicked and stuttering Takumi, holding a phone in one hand and desperately trying to close a drawer with the other. Especially given the content of said drawer. If that was really what the redhead thought it was, he was _very_ curious to see the rest of it.

It took him a few seconds to process the information and accept it as reality. As he was doing that, his brain took a very detailed mental picture of that moment and saved it for rainy days. When was the last time he saw Takumi blush like that? And now here he was, looking at Souma like his life was going to end any second now and he would never recover from this shame.

The redhead burst into laughter. That was, without a doubt, the best thing he had seen in his _life_! He had no idea what was happening, but that didn't even need context. Tears streaming down his eyes, he closed the door behind him and leaned on it, trying to regain his composure. Takumi looked pretty pissed off now (which he couldn't take seriously, given the wobbly pink dildo that was now in his hand) and it finally hit him that he should probably help him.

When he managed to calm down, he walked to the blonde and took his phone. He turned around to keep the drawer and his confused boyfriend out of sight and greeted Isami, quickly telling him that everything was fine and he was going to borrow his brother for a while. He then hung up, gave Takumi his phone back, and started studying the content of the drawer more seriously.

That gave him ideas. That gave him _so many_ ideas…

A huge grin gradually appeared on his face as pictures of a handcuffed, helpless Takumi started playing in his mind. Takumi begging him to take him as he played with those cute little love handles of his. Or using them to…

There were so many possibilities…

He turned to his boyfriend, looking like a child who just found a treasure chest. There were probably sparkles in his eyes right now…

"Souma, I can explain," the other started.

"No need. There are more important things to do at the moment," the redhead stopped him. "They're here for a reason. We _have_ to try them. Now."

Souma had a very pleasant afternoon after that.

.

Somewhere, Dimitri wondered if Takumi liked his little surprise. He didn't know how appropriate it was, but according to his recent researches, safety was especially important in the gay community. Maybe he got a bit carried away with the sex toys though…

.

Etsuya was extremely satisfied with the outcome of his first move to solve his current problems. Maybe he could get himself out of trouble in one piece, after all…

Finding the weak link in the team working on the restaurant's explosion case had been easier than expected, and buying the policeman to dismiss it as an accident even more so. Now that the police had completely dropped the case, he only had one thing to worry about: how to make sure he wouldn't get killed by a bunch of vengeful Russians.

He knew they were after him, and he couldn't escape from them forever. He had better things to do anyway. They seemed to have nothing more than doubts at the moment, but it was only a matter of time until they got the proof they needed. They would find out the truth sooner or later, and when they did, the businessman wasn't sure that his legendary smooth talk and negotiating skills would be of any help against them. He probably wouldn't make it alive, or at least not in one piece.

However, if he had learned one thing from the way he solved the first half of his problem, without mentioning his successful career, it was that offense was the best defense most of the time. He couldn't just wait and hide until they found him and carried out their revenge. He had to take a risk and do something before that. And he already had a plan to get back on track…

.

For Souma and Takumi, the rest of their week in Russia went by just like a dream. The redhead showed his boyfriend all his favorite places in Moscow, most of them being nice restaurants and cafés. It had the double benefits of letting the other learn more about Russian cuisine and, more importantly, making sure he didn't lose all his weight too fast. Since stress and depression were apparently the only way of getting Takumi to become a bit chunkier, Souma wasn't planning to see him like this ever again. Therefore, he was going to make it last as long as he could, before the sexiest butt he had ever seen was lost forever. Not to mention that cuddling him was so much more comfortable now… He could never get tired of it.

The day before they left, Mikhail sent someone for them, saying he had important information to share with them. When they came to him, he announced that he was now certain of the culprit's identity: he had called him himself.

"According to him, it was all a misunderstanding," he explained. "He said he asked for 'something else', but his man apparently understood that he had to destroy the restaurant. I really don't see how someone can understand such a thing if his plan wasn't to harm Souma in the first place, but we'll see that together."

"You haven't told us who it was…" Souma pointed out.

"Right, right. It's none other than our old friend Etsuya Eizan."

The redhead gasped by pure reflex. Then, he realized that he wasn't surprised in the least, since he sort of suspected him all along. A quick glance at Takumi showed him that the other wasn't shocked by the news either.

"Anyway, what do you mean by 'seeing that together'?" he asked.

"Oh, he offered to send me his man, but I said that if the dog did something wrong, the owner had to take responsibility as well. So they're both coming here. I will see what his excuse is, and I will decide how to punish him depending on what he has to say," Mikhail replied coldly, losing his usual pleasant expression.

It was only in moments like these that Souma remembered who the man in front of him really was. Clearly, he didn't reach such a high position and manage to stay there for so long just by eating sushis. Although the redhead never got in trouble with him, Mikhail was a dangerous man, and one that shouldn't be crossed. Still, Souma wasn't interested in revenge and he told the Russian about it. He didn't know what Eizan wanted from him, but he wasn't going to let him get killed or something because of him. That didn't sound right.

"And that's much to your credit," Mikhail acknowledged.

His smile reappeared for a second, but it was soon replaced by a much less pleasant look as he continued:

"However, this decision is not yours to make. I will keep what you said in mind, but since you are under my protection, by attacking you, he also attacked me. I can't just let him get away with it. I have a reputation to maintain."

At that moment, Souma felt extremely thankful for being so skilled as a chef. That ensured that, in most cases, Mikhail would be on his side and not against him. Also, he was more aware than ever that the Russian usually let him get away with a lot more than most of his men…

For a second, he was tempted to tell him that he would stop cooking for him if he decided to kill or hurt Eizan or the person that made the kitchen explode. It wouldn't be so bad, he thought. After all, it was a well-known fact that Mikhail had a soft spot for chefs he respected. It was a weakness, for sure, but it wasn't a secret for anyone. However, he also felt like a threat wasn't a good idea. Having a soft spot was different from obeying a puny chef like him, and if people knew that Souma Yukihiracould make the fearful Mikhail Ivanovich Vasiliev do whatever he wanted just by threatening not to cook for him, that would be seen as a real weakness. Mikhail knew that. He was always more lenient toward him, but he couldn't let him get away with something that big.

Souma sighed and said as a last resort:

"I understand. But whatever they did, at least … please don't kill them, okay?"

There were things worse than death, for sure. And Mikhail had the means to make most of those things happen to the culprits. However, the redhead really didn't want to be responsible for two deaths.

"I will take that into account," the other replied.

Souma was sure he saw the Russian nod slightly as he said that. He started breathing again.

"When are they coming, by the way?" he asked.

"A few days after your departure," Mikhail replied calmly. He remained silent for a second and added: "You two can leave now. I have other things to take care of, and I'm sure you have things to prepare for tomorrow."

Takumi and he nodded, and before they left the room, the Russian called him and said:

"By the way, I'd like to have some _tempura_ for dinner. Especially the egg one."

Souma turned around with a grin:

"Sure! Anything else you'd like?"

"You are free to choose. I just hope you can make something really special for your last evening here."

The pleasant smile and the peaceful atmosphere were back. Everything was back to normal.

Takumi looked quite grim when they left the room. Souma wanted to ask him what was wrong, but he figured that given his boyfriend's character, he was probably going to say things that shouldn't be said here. So instead, he asked:

"I was thinking about making a dessert for once. Do you think you can bake a cake for this evening? I haven't had one in a while, and you were still supposed to teach me how to make a _semifreddo._ "

Takumi gave him a surprised look, but nodded. By the time he started giving him tips on how to make the ice cream reach its optimal level of creaminess, he seemed to have forgotten what he was angry about.

.

Etsuya knew the negotiations with Mikhail Vasiliev would be the hardest in his life. After all, the only thing that was at stake was usually money, and no matter how much he valued it, his life was still more important than that. Despite his overwhelming stress, he tried to look confident when he met the Russians. His man, however, was a completely different story, and he lost whatever was left of his composure as soon as he was told to stay behind in another room.

Repeating his arguments for the last time, Etsuya started wondering if his strategy was really the best. Sure, it seemed that Vasiliev valued honesty – or at least, had a particular aversion for liars – but even though he was sure he could turn the situation to his advantage somehow, it was still very tempting to put all the blame on his man and act like he never wanted to have anything to do with Yukihira in the first place. However, that would be too risky and he knew it. The other might tell them the truth, and that would only put him in more troubles, even if he managed to depict his man as a dangerous liar.

"We finally meet, Etsuya Etsurovich Eizan," Vasiliev said coldly, sounding exactly like a Russian villain in a James Bond movie. The businessman was almost disappointed by the absence of white cat on his lap.

Given the way he insisted on the name, ridiculously turned into a Russian version of it, the other wanted to send a message.

"Or should I call you Eizan-san?" he then asked innocently.

"However you prefer," Etsuya replied graciously, trying to remember that now wasn't the time to be proud and risk crossing the other even more.

"I guess the most polite thing would be to use the Japanese version. You are my guest, after all."

Not daring to look at the other in the eyes, Etsuya nodded silently.

"So, I think you came to explain me what happened to Souma's kitchen, right? I am curious to hear your version of the story."

"Right. The truth is…"

 _Don't tell him more than you have to,_ he reminded himself.

"… I never asked for Yukihira's death. It was all a misunderstanding between me, my middle man, and the person who carried out the plan. I usually put the utmost care in avoiding miscommunication, but it seems that something went wrong along the way, and I am planning to make sure it doesn't happen again in the future."

Vasiliev seemed unimpressed by his explanation. However, he looked a bit intrigued. That was a good start.

"I see… But I wonder, what kind of orders did you really give him?"

 _Nothing more than what he needs to know,_ he reminded himself again as he explained slowly, taking care of his choice of words:

"I asked him to go to Yukihira's restaurant and look for potential weaknesses. Which I usually do whenever a place seems promising."

"And from that, your man understood that he was supposed to make the kitchen explode?" Vasiliev asked coldly.

"He might have been aware that my plan on the long term was to … cause the downfall of the restaurant, and he overdid it."

That was a huge leap of faith. As he said that, Etsuya had no idea if he would survive the next five minutes. A quick glance at the other man didn't help. His face was completely blank and impossible to read. Still, he took advantage of his silence to continue:

"I admit that it was a mistake. However, without his restaurant, Yukihira would have been able to come back to you, and work for you again. It seems that you are not entirely satisfied with your current chef."

The shadow of a smile appeared on Vasiliev lips, and Etsuya decided to take it as a good sign as he added:

"In a way, that was serving your own interest."

He was ready to go on with something else when the other declared thoughtfully:

"You are aware that the restaurant isn't the only reason why Souma is staying in Paris, right?"

Etsuya didn't know what to answer. Sure, he was aware of it. But Vasiliev wasn't supposed to know about that. Whether his silence was enough for the Russian or he simply didn't care about that and was only speaking to himself, he still asked him to continue.

"I'd like to add that this whole explosion thing was unfortunate, and had Yukihira or anyone else been hurt in this accident, I would have obviously taken responsibility for that and made sure they had access to the best treatments."

"So that means that you are ready to take financial responsibility for this? That's interesting," the other replied with what looked like a pleased expression.

If there was something Etsuya hated, it was losing money. However, he did have more than enough to cover for the damages, or whatever Vasiliev wanted him to pay. It was better than losing a limb, anyway.

"Of course," he replied obediently. "However, I think the insurance will take care of the reparation expenses."

"Sure, but these people only give the minimum amount. You'll have to complete with whatever Souma needs to have his perfect kitchen."

"I will," he accepted immediately. If it was just going to be about money, he could accept it.

"Also, we are going to keep your man. He clearly needs to be taught some manners."

Etsuya vaguely tried to take his defense, calculating the risk that the police might make a connection between his disappearance and their trip to Russia, but found that he could easily take care of the problem. Vasiliev insisted, and he quit resisting. The other still said that he would send him back, so that was enough for him.

"You know, given what you did, I should probably kill you," Vasiliev remarked coldly, as if he was wondering if he shouldn't do it after all.

Never in his life had Etsuya been so scared. His heart stopped for a second, and he may or may not have felt dangerously close to peeing his pants – which he fortunately didn't. The Russian kept silent for a moment, and the businessman was certain that he was doing it on purpose.

"However, I won't. That would be too much troubles for nothing."

Never in his life had Etsuya been so glad to be called "nothing". It was a day full of novelties, and the businessman wasn't sure what to think of it at the moment.

"Plus, there is something else you can do for me…"

Was he going to ask for more money?

"You were right when you said I wasn't entirely satisfied with my current chef. So I want you to send me your best Japanese chef. Or course, you're going to pay their wage."

Was he kidding?! There was a small smile on his face, and Etsuya was certain that he was mocking him.

"The chefs working for me are free people. I can't force them to-"

"This is my last condition, Eizan-san," the Russian interrupted calmly. "If it is about benefits, I can take care of that, no matter what it takes to convince them. But I want your best chef, and I won't go back on that."

Realizing more than ever that Vasiliev wasn't someone that could be convinced easily, Etsuya had no other choice but to accept.

He came back to France alone and completely humiliated, but at least he was alive. And if he managed to fill the Russian's last condition, he would stay so. He had no idea what the other would do if his best chef wasn't enough for him, however. Or if he failed to convince them. Of course, he could send him another one, more easily persuaded. Which of his chefs was the best was only a matter of taste, after all. But that didn't answer his question. Aside from his death, what did Vasiliev really have in mind? He kept really vague about it, but his silence was way more threatening than any description in the world.

No matter what happened, Etsuya _had_ to find which chef would best fit the Russian's taste and convince them to work in Russia. He would manage, he decided. After all, persuasion and negotiation were two of his strongest skills.

* * *

Fun fact: even though this chapter contains the best scene in the Finding Souma series (you know what I'm talking about), proofreading the whole thing felt extremely long and boring. I hope you didn't feel that way.


	6. How Legends Are Born

Wow... This is it. The end. Finally! After more than a year, here is the final chapter of this story!  
I ... can't really tell if I'm happy or not. This was a real adventure though, and I'm really glad you followed my silly story until now.  
Anyway, I'll keep the emotional rambling for later. For now, enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 6: How Legends Are Born**

It was only once he plopped down on his couch that Souma realized how much he had missed his home. Sure, he felt a bit of nostalgia while he was in Russia, but that was completely different from what he was feeling right now. He had tons of things to take care of if he wanted to re-open his dinner soon, he had to tell everyone he was alive and well, and he shouldn't wait too long to tell the police that he wasn't missing anymore. However, before anything else, before even unpacking, he just wanted to sit down and enjoy that simple yet blissful feeling of being back home after a long absence.

There was something missing in his perfect moment, however…

"Souma, don't sit down just yet. We have things to do right now, you can relax later…" Takumi scolded gently, crossing his arms.

There it was.

"We can do that later. Just come and sit with me for a bit," the redhead invited him, patting the place next to him.

His boyfriend sighed, but he still obliged with a soft smile, casually grabbing one of Souma's arms as he sat down to wrap it around his shoulders. He stayed like that for a few seconds, resting his forehead in the crook of his neck, but he soon moved out, stopping the redhead's sigh of content just before it escaped his lips.

He turned to the other to see what was wrong and soon found himself wrapped in their comfy blanket. Takumi then resumed his previous position and stopped moving once he found a comfortable position.

"Good idea," Souma approved.

"This is a terrible idea…" the blonde muttered. "I'm never getting up now."

"Perfect."

"No it's not. We have things to do. So many things to do… And there's nothing left in the fridge."

"We can eat outside tonight. I missed the Vietnamese restaurant around the corner."

"What about tomorrow?" Takumi countered weakly.

"There has to be _some kind of food_ here _._ We can cook something up."

"Right."

There were no more complaints. Souma's perfect moment started. There was one more thing missing, though.

"Takumi?" he called softly, wondering if the other was asleep already.

"Hmm?"

"I love you."

"I love you too."

 _Now_ it was truly perfect.

They fell asleep like that and woke up in the weirdest positions. Everything was back to normal. Souma was home.

.

"I managed to escape the worst of the explosion, but when I woke up, I couldn't remember anything after coming to Russia. Strangely enough, I could only speak Russian then. I had forgotten even Japanese! So obviously, I decided that I had to go back to the Motherland," Souma explained.

"Wait, how did no one find you before you woke up?"

"I was well hidden."

"No but really, the firemen intervened really fast and they even managed to clear most of the rubble in a couple of hours."

"Well … did they think about checking under the sink?"

"I'm pretty sure they did."

"They didn't look thoroughly enough then, because that's where I was. I had just enough time to rush under it, and that's how I hit my head and lost my memories."

"Sounds fake but okay… And then, how did you go back to Russia?"

"I hitchhiked."

"All the way to Moscow?"

"Exactly. I thought I would find people I knew there, but I couldn't remember anyone. So I did the only thing I could: I became a cooking street artist."

"What, like you glued eggs on the walls and stapled ham on posters to protest against modern society?"

Souma chuckled.

"I like the concept, but that's not what I had in mind. It was more about cooking in front of people to get their attention and make them buy the food."

"I like my idea better…" Isami pouted.

"It's a good one, I'll keep it in mind," Souma grinned.

"And that's how Takumi found you then?"

"Yup, right in the middle of a show. He kept staring at me the whole time, but I was too focused on cooking at first, so I didn't notice him. He stayed until the end, and then our eyes met and I remembered everything."

"That's when you two kissed passionately in the middle of the street and everyone applauded and cheered, right?" Isami asked with a grin.

"Exactly! Also, it was officially voted the cutest thing ever, and that's how Takumi and I singlehandedly put an end to homophobia in Russia."

"And don't forget that Vladimir Putin himself was in the crowd and came to shake your hand!" the sommelier exclaimed. "He offered you to work for the Kremlin, but you had to decline."

They both burst into laughter, and Takumi sighed as he watched them. Why did the two people he loved the most have to be such complete idiots sometimes? Especially when they were together.

This meeting was supposed to be serious. Since most of Souma's friends didn't know about his past – and sort of current – ties with the Russian mafia, he had to come up with something to explain his disappearance to them. At first they tried to find plausible stories, but his brother and he soon decided that it was better to find the silliest, most improbable scenarios ever and see how they could make them sort of believable.

That one was the worst so far, which was saying something. Before that, there was the story of how Souma heroically escaped from the restaurant right before it exploded, saving a bunch of newborn kittens in the process, and then decided to find people to take care of the reparations. He then remembered his old friend Misha and his assistant Serioga, who were specialists in kitchens and told him years ago that he could come to them if he needed their help. The two burst into laughter at the idea of Misha the plumber and couldn't stop giggling like kids for several minutes after that. As for Souma's excuse for not telling anyone about his unexpected trip, they decided to go for "I put a note on the fridge to tell Takumi, but it slipped under it after I left. Also, I was in such a hurry that I forgot my mobile phone."

Another one of their most memorable versions was the one where Souma was saved by a group of Gypsies that just happened to be around at the time of the event. They found him before the firemen intervened and decided to take care of him while he recovered. He had troubles leaving them because they had fallen in love with his cooking and wouldn't let him go. Maybe _that_ was the worst version, now that he thought about it. Unless…

"Wait, can't you guys put your Gypsies in that story, instead of the hitchhiking to Russia?" he suddenly asked.

The two others turned to him with a surprised look. Souma grinned.

"Yeah, that's even better!" he exclaimed.

"This will be the version for Alice," Isami decided. "If someone is going to believe it, it's her."

Souma strongly agreed while Takumi pinched the bridge of his nose, wondering how those two always managed to make him take part in their nonsense. He got up and left the living room, telling them he was going to take care of dinner. No one paid attention to his dignified retreat however, as they were too busy making up a version that involved the secret services and world domination. If they were going that far already, Takumi didn't want to imagine what they would come up with by the time they reached the dessert…

Fortunately for him, they stopped once the food was served.

"By the way, how are the reparations going in your dinner?" Isami asked Souma after they started eating.

"They're going just fine. I think I'll be able to re-open in a couple of months," the redhead replied. "Mitsuru is regularly posting on the blog to keep the customers up to date. He seems to be having lots of fun," he added with a chuckle.

"What about you?"

"Me? Well, I'm starting to get bored, so I guess I can go back to Russia until they're done. Mikhail was right: now that everything is planned, my presence isn't really needed."

"So you're planning to leave so soon?" Takumi asked with a frown.

"I guess. But it won't be long, you know. Also, I was thinking that maybe it would be the perfect time for us to go to Japan and see Megumi."

"I think we've taken enough vacation for this year…" the blonde replied with a sigh.

"Right…"

"Maybe next spring, though…"

"Sure, the cherry blossom season is the best," Souma approved with a grin.

" _I'd love to see that with you…"_ Takumi wanted to reply. But then, Isami made a comment about how they had to find a special version of Souma's story for their friends in Japan, and they were back at making up silly stories again.

Despite his apparent frustration, the blonde couldn't repress a smile. To be honest, he was glad to see them like that. Even though he wasn't actively taking part in the fun, just having those two around was enough to make it a good evening, especially when they were on fire like that. And at least, for once, they weren't teaming up to tease him…

"And then a giant robot came over to kidnap you!" Isami exclaimed at some point.

Takumi sighed to hide a chuckle. If they kept these ideas – and knowing them, they _would_ – the next couple of weeks were sure going to be fun. He hoped that no one would come to _him_ to know what really happened though…

.

For Erina, the best way of describing Souma's restaurant was … "common". From the outside, it looked like any dinner in Japan. However, she had to admit that given the context, it was pretty original. It wasn't something people expected to see in the middle of Paris, after all.

As she walked through the door, closely followed by Hisako, she completely changed her mind. The decoration in itself was still pretty ordinary, but the open kitchen was absolutely magnificent! It couldn't compare with Alice's of course, since her cousin had tons of modern cooking equipment that Souma didn't need, but it still looked wonderful, and not a bit out of place somehow. Lots of efforts had clearly been made to integrate it perfectly in its environment. To a professional, it still looked like all the budget went to the kitchen and then there wasn't enough money for the decoration…

The place seemed quite busy, but the two didn't have to wait long before a young Japanese man greeted them and showed them to their table, the closest to the counter. He seemed quite impressed to see them, and given the way he was fiddling with his camera – which, by the way, shouldn't even be here – he was dying to ask them for a picture.

"Mitsuru, orders for table three are ready!"

The young man jumped as he heard that and rushed to take care of the two dishes that appeared on the counter. Only then did Souma's face emerge above it. He smiled when he saw them and greeted them warmly:

"Oh, Erina, Hisako, I didn't hear you coming! You didn't have troubles finding the place, I hope."

As she let her girlfriend reply for her, Erina wondered at which point in her life seeing Souma started making her _happy._ She had to admit that he wasn't half as bad as she remembered from her childhood, and his warm, friendly behavior could be quite pleasant from time to time.

"I'm glad you came. I've been waiting for your critique for a while, Erina."

"I would have done that earlier, had this place not been in renovation last time I came," she huffed, her tone slightly more bitter than she intended to.

"Hey, it's not my fault the kitchen exploded!" Souma exclaimed with a grin, as always when she snapped at him like that.

That was another good thing about him. Even after all those years, she still had troubles talking normally to him, yet he never seemed to take it personally.

"How can we be sure you didn't do that yourself?" Hisako retorted. "I've asked several people about what happened, and I've always heard a different story. I'm sure if I ask your employees about it, I will have yet another version."

"Isn't it funnier this way?" the redhead asked with what he apparently thought was a mysterious expression.

Hisako sighed, but dropped the subject.

"Oh, I see Mitsuru forgot to give you the menus," Souma suddenly remarked as he left for a second to grab them. "Here you are. He must have been flustered or something…"

"By the way, what is he doing with that huge camera in a restaurant?" Erina asked.

"He's in charge of the communication strategy, so he always has to be ready in case there are pictures to take," the redhead explained. "Well … that's what he says, at least. But he's really invested in that, and you wouldn't believe the number of customers who come thanks to that."

Their conversation got interrupted by new orders, and the chef only came back once everything was ready and he had a few minutes to spare.

As always, Erina was impressed by how much Souma's cooking had improved since the previous year. The same went for Takumi, of course. Unsurprisingly, her critique would be a good one.

"By the way, do you still have time for a small contest?" the redhead asked by the end of their meal. "I have to make up for my last defeat against Takumi."

"I was expecting that," Erina chuckled. "So yes, I have arranged some time in my schedule for that. You two can see that with Hisako."

That was the seventh time she did that already, and she had no choice but to decide on a winner after the first year. Luckily, she never found herself in the same situation as she did back then, when Souma's father had to get her out of trouble because there clearly was a draw and she didn't dare saying so. That was a huge source of stress for the first couple of years, but she still had fun doing it, and she loved seeing how far these two had come compared to the previous year.

"I suppose you already have a theme?" she asked.

"Yes, Alice picked out earlier this month. We have to make a burger with avocado, apparently. I've already tried a few recipes."

"She seems to take that pretty seriously…" she remarked.

"I know! She's even started organizing those little ceremonies where she randomly picks out the dish and the main ingredient," Souma explained with a smile. "This year, she programmed her 3D printer and printed the theme with chocolate to make the suspense last longer."

"Her sense of drama will never cease to amaze me…" Erina sighed, somehow finding herself regretting that she couldn't have been there to see it.

They stayed to chat until it was almost time for the place to close, and Takumi came in just before the last few customers left.

"Hey, Takumi! Did you forget your keys again?" Souma asked with a grin.

"What? Of course not!" the blonde huffed. "And what do you mean 'again'? It doesn't happen that often!"

"Why are you here then?"

"No reason," he replied, looking extremely flustered for some reason. "I just finished a bit earlier and thought I'd stop by."

His eyes then fell on Hisako and Erina, and he smiled warmly as he greeted them.

"What do you have in this box, by the way?" the redhead asked after a while.

"This? I had some desserts left, so I thought you might be interested," he replied as he put them on the table. "Erina, Hisako, you can have some if you like," he then offered with a smile.

Erina hesitated for a second. She was quite full already, but she knew Takumi's desserts were worth it.

"Hey, I thought they were for me!" Souma complained.

"There are three of them, you can share," Takumi replied with an annoyed look.

He then turned back to them with a more pleasant expression and told them there were two sheep's milk _panna cotta_ with black cherries and a matcha _tiramisu_.

"So you still won't call that a tea-ramisu I see…" Souma remarked.

"Go back to the dishes instead of making lame puns," Takumi snarled.

"You know what? Add that to the conditions! If I win, you'll have to do the cleaning in a sexy costume for a month _and_ call it a 'tea-ramisu'on the menu."

"Souma…" Takumi hissed, blushing.

Erina saw her girlfriend hide a smile, and she barely managed to repress one herself.

"If you do that, we'll have to add something to _my_ list of conditions," the blonde then declared.

"Right. What do you want?"

"I'll think about it later on."

"Be quick then. According to our schedule, we can have the duel in two days," Hisako warned.

"What are your conditions, by the way?" Erina asked.

"Souma has to go shopping with me, so that he can dress properly," Takumi replied.

"I'm already dressing properly," the redhead remarked.

"Not properly enough. You have no sense of fashion! You could look so much better if you put a little effort in it!"

"Then what's the use of having nice clothes, if I'm going to put them off right away?" Souma asked as he turned to him with a suggestive smile.

Takumi rolled his eyes, and the other continued:

"It doesn't matter anyway. Because this year, I'm gonna win."

"Ha, you wish!"

"We'll see about that. I've already booked your cat-maid costume."

The two kept bickering like an old couple until Souma had to leave for a few minutes. Takumi took this opportunity to sit down at their table to chat. The moment was perfect, Hisako decided. She put on her most natural expression and asked casually:

"By the way Takumi, what really happened to Souma last year? You're the one who found him, so you have to know about it, right?"

The other's cheeks flushed, and he suddenly looked extremely nervous.

"It's… Hum… Actually… Why don't you ask Souma instead?" he managed to reply.

"Because he's probably going to tell us another weird story, and I want the truth. So?"

Takumi wriggled uncomfortably on his chair.

"That's… There were … Illuminati?" he started tentatively.

"Illuminati?" Hisako asked with a skeptical look.

"Yes, that's a fascinating story," Souma intervened as he suddenly appeared behind his man, putting a hand on his shoulders as if to say 'don't worry babe, I've got this one'. "They had a big reunion coming up, and they needed the best chef available to cook for the reception."

Hisako let out a desperate sigh. Given the way Erina looked at the redhead, she was probably going to believe everything yet again. They weren't going to hear the real version tonight either, it seemed…

* * *

In conclusion: Souma's interactions with Isami are the most entertaining to write, I can't write a story without Erina making an appearance in the last chapter, and I love my two dorks (even though it is now canon that Souma can't lie either).

FIN.

Yay! ...or not, I don't know. But at least I feel like I'm done here, contrary to the last chapter of the Phantom that felt quite frustrating because I wanted to do so much more. And here is the "so much more", a lot shorter than I felt like writing and yet a lot longer than I expected.  
Anyway, my work here is done. Thanks to all of you who read this! And an ever bigger thank you to everyone who took the time to tell me how they felt about this story! Your comments is what I live for, really!

I don't know if I'll write anything new for this fandom, but I hope I can keep coming up with new ideas! (and actually write them, which is the hardest part of having an idea...)  
Bye!


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